Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ. We know first that we are in this passage that, of course, as I said, you'll hear me say Paul a lot. I don't know that Paul wrote this and nobody does for sure, but I certainly kind of have the opinion that he did. But the writer of Hebrews here, which I believe Paul brings up first the subject of the covenant from God. The covenant from God. He made a promise, which is what a covenant is, a binding agreement.

To Abraham and his descendants. And that, obviously, that promise was this, that in blessing, I will bless thee and multiplying, I will multiply thee. So we're brought up the covenant. Then we notice how that covenant was honored in verse 15. And so after he, meaning Abraham, had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. We talked about the fact that whenever God makes a promise, there's always a period of time between the promise and the performance of that promise. The Bible says that Abraham received that promise because he patiently endured, which gives us an insight of the point that Paul was making here is that we have some promises that God has given us, and we need to patiently endure so that we can obtain those promises. It is not always easy to patiently endure. It means this, just that phrase that if you're going to endure, you're going to have to have patience.

You're going to have to patiently endure. Notice if you would, verse 16, 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, that's you and me, the heirs of promise. The promise God gave to Abraham, there were heirs, and that's us. That's the heirs of covenant, the heirs of promise. Notice this, the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath. So now he brings us up, the second thing is the counsel of God.

The covenant from God and the counsel of God. What is that counsel? That word counsel literally means advice. It means purpose.

It means will. It means that God said that here's the covenant. This is the promise, and I also want to prove that I can keep that promise by my counsel. And God's counsel is what his promises are founded upon. God would not make a promise unless he knowing all the future, all the past, controlling the present, unless God knows that I can keep or perform that promise.

Now I know it's a little technical, but I think you understand. Notice if you would, verse 18, he says that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. What were those two, or are those two immutable things? The covenants from God and the counsels of God. Now, how do you get the promises or the covenants of God, and how do you get literally the advice, the purpose, the will, the instruction, or the counsels of God?

You get both of them in God's word. This is where we read his promises. This is where we get his counsel. This is where we are taught his principles. This is where we learn his doctrine.

And so in God's word are the covenants and counsels of God. If you're with me so far, say it. Amen. Some of you said, amen, even though you're not with me, but you just, you're so used to doing what you're told to do in church. You just say, amen. I don't know.

It's like it starts as kids in junior church, you know, Jesus Bible, you know, kind of, we just get used to it. All right. Notice if you, I'm not calling you children, don't get me wrong.

All right. Look if you would at verse 18, he brings up the third thing here that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. Here's our third thing. He says strong consolation or consolation from God. That means a consoling.

It means a comfort. It means that literally that God has given us some promises. And in order for God to prove that he can keep those promises, we are given access to his counsels, to his will, to his wisdom and his word and all those things.

And from those two immutable things, immutable means unchanging. That means from the unchanging promises of God and the unchanging word of God, we now can have strong consolation, comfort. That's what we need in order to patiently endure from the promise to the performance of that promise. Now, what is that hope? Set before us. Okay, well, what is that hope? Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which enter into that within the veil.

Whether the forerunner is for us entered, that means or where, that's where the forerunner for us is entered, which is within the veil, even Jesus made in high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. We have caught up and I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to be able to bring this all together where it makes a whole lot more sense to you. Let's pray. Lord, as we take these precious promises and precious principles, Lord, as we learn more about these things, it should be a comfort, a consolation to us. Let our eyes and storms head our way, that we can be consoled during that. We can be comforted during that so that we can patiently endure to receive the promise. Thank you for our anchor of hope. May I rightfully divide your word as we talk about it and bring it to a close today. In Jesus' name, I pray.

Amen. Let me make this phrase again just to kind of bring you up to speed. Consolation, and don't get fooled by these aren't words sometimes we just use every day. Consolation or comfort, literally, I want you to get this, consolation is the continuous application of God's covenants and counsels.

It means the more I apply God's promises and His word, His will, His purpose, the more I apply His covenants and His counsels to my life, the more I have consolation. I don't get consolation from other people. Now, I can sometimes find compassion in other people, but my consolation cannot come just from empty words. Consolation has to come from firm promises.

I have to be able to depend on it. Now, you might say some nice things to me when things go wrong, and I hope you will. I hope that you say some really mean things to me when I'm going through heartaches and things. So, our tendency normally is to say very comforting things, and many times we mean well, but we're human, we're flesh, and sometimes we say things that we cannot follow through on. I've heard more people, hey, listen, I'll be here, whatever you need, call me every day.

Yeah, try calling them every day. It's like, yes. What?

Then it's like, you know, busy, busy, busy kind of a thing. Listen, we all mean things, and we mean well, and we mean it at the time, but we're flesh, and things change, and circumstances change, and our health changes, and our resources change. A lot of things change, and we might not be able to follow through on what we say, but God's word, God's promises are founded upon His counsels, so we know that we can count on it. We have, the Bible says here, as an anchor.

Now, as you'll notice, we have our little setup here, and let me, if I can, I wanna just begin here today. What is the purpose of an anchor? What is the purpose of an anchor? Okay, now we know that we're given an anchor of hope, and the anchor of hope we are given, literally, or the consolation, the anchor of consolation, is literally the promises of God and the counsels of God. It means the word of God. So we know that, but what is the purpose of an anchor?

What is the purpose of God's word in our life? Notice, if you can, as Paul here, I believe Paul is applying this to an anchor. Notice number one, this, that what is the purpose of an anchor? Number one is to prevent damage.

To prevent damage. Now, as we have kind of our little illustration set up here, according to this passage, that we have an anchor to our soul. And in our soul is the cargo that we carry. These things here that we've laid out for you, just so you can see it easier, are things that console our soul.

That's why it's called console. Do you know, literally, that's where the root of that word comes from? It means to bring comfort to the soul. We have consolation. And then these are things that our soul needs. We need joy. We need contentment. We need peace.

We need expectation. We need comfort. Our soul needs those things. And as storms come up in our life, temptations, trials, persecutions, afflictions, and they're fighting our little ship. They're coming against our soul.

And the more we let those things control our ship, these precious pieces of cargo begin to fall out. So, what is the purpose of an anchor? As we are anchored on Jesus, the Bible says we have an anchor of hope and that anchor is literally sure and steadfast on Jesus. So, Jesus here is not our anchor. Jesus is the rock that we're anchored to. What's the purpose of an anchor?

Look at me. To prevent damage. If you put a ship or a boat in the middle of a storm and it's not anchored to something, you know what's going to happen? There's going to be damage.

That storm or that wind or those waves or whatever the case might be is going to take that boat back and forth. There's nothing grounded. There's nothing that it's settled on. There's nothing holding it.

There's nothing keeping it in place. There's nothing that is stronger than the storm. And when a boat is not anchored to something that is stronger than the storm, then the boat becomes victim to that storm.

That's the purpose of an anchor. You see, preacher, I don't really understand. Listen to me. And please get this. The consolations of God are strong enough to support you through your storms. Now, listen to me.

I want you to get this. The comforts of this world are strong enough to support you through your storms. They are not strong enough to keep your soul through trouble. Now, a lot of people are spending a lot of time trying to get the comforts of this world, but they find that it is fleeting and it doesn't satisfy.

That's why you can turn on the TV anywhere and you'll find shows, hour-long documentaries about how these Hollywood stars and these wealthy musicians and all this stuff end up in drugs and suicidal and all these things, yet they have all the comforts of this world. They are not strong enough to even support a person that has everything. What makes you think comfort is going to be strong enough to support us that don't have everything? But God's consolations are strong enough. Listen to me. The possessions of this world are not strong enough to prevent damage.

Get this. The philosophy of this world is not strong enough to hold you through your storms. They are not strong enough to keep you through some trials. But God's anchor, which is the Word of God, our anchor, number one, is strong. Our anchor is strong.

But I want you to get this. What is the purpose of an anchor? It prevents damage. Number two, it prevents drifting.

It prevents drifting. You know why when you go out in the middle of the ocean and you want to go fishing or you want to go something or you put an anchor down, you know why? Because if you don't want to put an anchor down, unless you just don't care where you're going, but if you don't put an anchor down, you know what? You can fish for a while, sit out there in the boat for a while.

You can enjoy the sun, whatever, and you know what? You won't even realize how far you've moved from where you were. And if you're not staying in God's Word in your life, guess what? A year, two years, three years is going to go by, and you're going to think you're exactly where you were, but you have drifted a long way away from where you were. But you're not going to know that if you're not anchored. Anchors prevent drifting. You know, I have found in my life that if I'm not holding strong to Christ through His Word, I immediately begin to drift. Immediately. And here's why.

Look at me. This world has produced storms so strong that the moment you remove that anchor, you're in trouble. It prevents damage. It prevents drifting.

Third, it prevents or to prevent discomfort. I've got to be honest with you, if you've ever been in a boat, small or large, whatever, that's not anchored and is controlled by whatever circumstances are surrounding it, you're going to have a very uncomfortable trip. You know, one of the most miserable people in the world is a Christian who is out of fellowship with God. They almost hate life. They hate everything about life. They hate everything about it. They're mad at everybody. They're just bitter at everything.

Why? Because their anchor's not grounded. The Bible says it this way, they're tossed to and fro like a ship being controlled by the wind. Discomfort. Notice number four, what is the purpose of an anchor?

It's to prevent digressing. Do you know oftentimes that a boat or a ship, and I would use this analogy that if you're kind of going against time, you're going against the direction of the ocean at that time, and you're trying to make waves, you can go a good while. And you know what? Let's just say even like if it's a rowboat or something, you can go and you just need some rest. You're getting weary.

You're getting tired. If you don't drop anchor, guess what? That storm, that wind, or that ocean, that current is going to take you back to where you've already been. And all the grounds you've made, as far as you've come, you're going to lose ground if you don't drop anchor. That makes sense, doesn't it? Do you know that if you and I don't stay anchored in the Word of God, we're going to digress.

We're going to lose the ground we've worked so hard to get to. That's an issue. That's a problem. I wonder how many Christians sit in God's house, hear God's Word, and a preacher that prays hard and tries hard or whatever, and they just keep digressing. Say, well, it must be the church's fault. Well, it must be the pastor.

Well, it must be the music guy. Well, I don't like this, and I don't like that, and I don't agree with this, and I don't agree with that. That is a sure sign that you have lifted up your anchor, and you're digressing. Notice this lastly, what's the purpose of an anchor? And there's more, but it's to prevent dysfunction.

To prevent dysfunction. Say, what does this mean? Well, I have to use it this way, because there's analogies all through here, but let's just say it's a fishing vessel. And if you go out and your job is to catch fish, and that's your livelihood, that's the purpose of this vessel. When they go out and catch fish, when they go out, and if you've ever watched these shows on TV where these guys are fishing, a lot more dangerous than it looks, you know, kind of a thing, and they go out, guess what? If they don't drop anchor where they're trying to fish, that boat will become unuseful. If that boat is controlled by everything that comes and every wind that comes, it's going to be constantly moved around. It cannot do the function that is its job.

It can't function how it was intended. It's meaningless. In other words, this fishing vessel can't fish, and a fishing vessel that can't fish is a wasted vessel. And I'm here to tell you in your life, if you're not anchored to Christ through his word, if you're not getting his covenants, and if you're not reading and applying his counsels, look at me, you're going to become dysfunctional. You're going to become a Christian that bears no fruit. And the Bible talks about that. We have to keep our life so that we can perform what we're supposed to perform and do what God has left us here on this earth to do.

He didn't save us to sit. That's the purpose of an anchor. I don't know about you, but there's enough purposes right there to motivate me to stay anchored. Heaven, that's the dock I'm trying to get to.

But I don't know about you. Every day I wake up, there's a new storm waiting on me. And if I'm not anchored, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble. So what does this verse teach? It says, well, we have an anchor of hope. So as we talk about this anchor, let me mention this number one.

I want you to get this number one. We have an anchor that is strong. Notice if you would in verse 18, the Bible says that we might have a strong consolation. We don't just have consolation. We have strong consolation. And it says which hope we have talking about that strong consolation as an anchor of the soul. So that means number one, we have a strong anchor.

You say, well, preacher, what does that mean? It means this literally that if you depend on your abilities, your ship will wreck. And if you depend on your accomplishments, your ship will wreck. And if you depend on your strengths and talents, they can be cleared like that. Some quicker than others.

Some are already cleared. It means this. They're just not strong enough. But our anchor of hope is strong. You say, well, preacher, how do you know it will hold? Look at me, it always has.

How do you know it's strong enough? It always has been. I tell you what, why don't we just do it this. When it comes a point or a circumstance or a Christian ever comes along in their life where the anchor of hope we've been given God's word, where it's not strong enough, let us know and I'll come back and change it. I'll come back and change it. I'll come back and change it. I'll come back and change it.

I'll come back and change it. But until then, it's strong. Notice, secondly, we have an anchor that's not only just strong, but notice, secondly, we have an anchor to the soul. An anchor to the soul. Now, this is what I 11 verse 19 says, which we have an anchor of the soul. That means our anchor keeps our soul.

That makes all the difference in the world. You say, why is that? Because you and I are literally like a boat at sea in this world. That's what we are. And we're gonna be tossed up and down and we're gonna be in danger of being cast away and shipwrecked and all those things. That's why we have so much mental health and emotional problems and different things because life is hard and circumstances are hard and if you're trying to get through that without your anchor of hope, all these things are gonna begin to appear in your life.

But here's what makes the difference to believers that put 100% total trust and dependency in the word of God. It is an anchor to the soul. It means this, that the temptations and persecutions and afflictions and trials and all these things that we encounter, they are things that can threaten our little boat.

So what does it mean? It means when God's word is an anchor to our soul, it means that our physical body can be damaged but our soul can be safe. It's not an anchor to the body. Our bodies fade away.

Our bodies are temporary. Our soul is eternal. It means even in sickness, I can have a peace that passes understanding because I'm anchored to the soul. It means when my body is tired, my soul can be refreshed because I have an anchor that is anchored on Jesus and it's an anchor to my soul.

It makes all the difference in the world. Number three, I want you to see this. Number three, we have an anchor that is sure. You say, well, you've already said we have an anchor that is strong.

Well, this is different. We have an anchor that is both, this verse says, sure and steadfast, an anchor that is sure. This word sure in literally the Greek means secure, safe, certain.

What does that mean, preacher? It means that our anchor, there is no fear of slipping here. There is no chance of the rope breaking. Jesus said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. It doesn't matter how dangerous our storm may be.

It doesn't matter what lightning comes or what hurricanes come or what could possibly happen to you during the day. Our anchor will hold safe. We know it will hold.

Everything else in your life, you do not know if it will hold or not. But our anchor of hope is sure. It means this, we can be sure about it. It means we can know for sure that we're saved. We can know for sure that God keeps his promises. We can know for sure that he has promised that he is preparing a place for us and he will come again and receive us.

He is preparing a place for us and he will come again and receive us unto himself. Number four, we have an anchor that is steadfast. You say, well, these words all mean the same. No, they don't. Now, you can get ahold of some copies of the word of God that's been changed a little bit and it'll look like it's all meaning the same, but it doesn't.

You need to get this. Strong means it's capable. Sure means that it won't slip, but steadfast means something different. We have an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Now, we know that it doesn't matter how dangerous a storm may be, your anchor will hold safe or sure, it doesn't matter how bad it is and thank God for that. But the fact that it is steadfast means this, it doesn't matter how long that storm may last, God will never let go. It's not just strong enough, it's not just securely fastened, it is steadfast.

It means that it will last for an eternity. It's not just a one-time anchor. It's not just to get you through this. It's the same anchor that will get you through it all.

It's steadfast. It means this, we can depend on him. It means you and I never have to wonder if he is there.

We never have to wonder if he cares. Some storms come and go, but Jesus is always there. Ships sail in and out, but our anchor is always steadfast. Winds may be fierce, but our anchor is faithful. It's steadfast. We know he will always be there. We know it will always hold. We know it's strong enough. That's amazing. Listen, I want you to get this. Our anchor is not just strong enough to hold, but he is steadfast enough to hold forever. That's the difference.

Let me give you this one lastly if I can as we close. We have an anchor that is fastened to the Savior. It's fastened to the Savior.

Now look at our scenario again. Here's our soul. You say, what about the body? Body is irregardless in this, because we're just talking about eternal stuff. The soul is eternal. God's counsels are eternal. God's covenants are eternal. God's consolation is eternal. We're not even going to talk about bodies because that's not eternal.

I don't know if you noticed that. Everything we're going to spend time on here is eternal. So if you look at our scenario, here's things that our soul needs. The storms are coming against us that threaten to knock all those things out of our ship, which puts our ship out of control. So we are anchored on the rock, on Jesus. The Bible says that the rock that is higher than I.

Brother Nathan Tabor sent me a picture of a boat over there down at the coast, and if you're kind of bringing a boat into maybe a little island or a little area there, you have to anchor that boat high enough on that beach, because when the tide comes in, it'll come up higher than you think, and if you don't anchor high enough, it'll wash away that anchor, and there goes your boat. So you and I have to stay anchored to something that is higher than us. So we're anchored, the Bible says, to the rock that is higher than I. The rock of ages that we sing about. We're anchored to Jesus.

And as everything in our life's trying to take us this way, away from our goal, away from our promise, Jesus keeps us anchored as we're traveling to it. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you.