Anchor of the Soul, Part 3

Music Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. We who are in Christ can seize the hope set before us. This hope is the opposite of despair. Instead, we can patiently endure, looking toward our anticipated destination, which is God Himself, who has drawn us to Himself.

In the rescue boat of Christ, we may get splashed by the sea of unrighteousness, but we are guaranteed safe arrival and are ultimately unaffected by those splashes. This is a strong encouragement because what we know about our future impacts how we experience the present. This is part three of the message entitled, The Anchor of Our Soul.

It was first preached on July 29, 2012. Let's listen in. The anchor of our soul, very interesting the way he puts it here, we have this hope as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus.

Okay, now let's unpack that for a minute. This is using imagery to help us understand what it means that Christ is our high priest, and he's going to unpack this for the next three chapters. So you think maybe the Lord wants us to understand what it means that Jesus is our high priest.

Obviously, He does. And it means, by introductory, it means this, that the Creator came to our island and pledged Himself for our rescue in order to take us back to the Father. So get this, there is the dock. You have to step into the boat because the boat will lead you to rescue. Part of that boat is an anchor, and the anchor is firmly attached to the boat. Now Christ as the forerunner, this is using some imagery from some ancient maritime imagery back in the Greco-Roman period. You go into harbor and it could be a very stormy, wavy day. You've got the anchor, the forerunner takes the anchor and takes it into land, so that then the ship is drawn in, the boat is drawn in safely because it doesn't have the capacity to navigate itself.

Okay. Jesus Christ, where has He gone? After He pledged Himself, what did He do? What does it say in the very opening verses of Hebrews? When He had purged our sins, did what? Sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high.

What is that? That's your anchor. The anchor has gone in and is firmly, solidly attached on the land, on the mainland, on the place of our destination. Christ is already there, and therefore in Christ, in a very real sense, we are already there because Christ is there. And so, not only are we just rescued from the island, but we are drawn to the Father. So He has entered the presence, the forerunner, the anchor of our soul has entered the presence, that's the very presence of God, and He is drawing us to Himself. So in the boat, in Christ, we are anchored in Him. The boat anchor is connected to the mainland, like this massive winch that is drawing us there.

Do you get that? So in other words, by faith you have stepped in the boat and you're being rescued from the island of doom, but you're not just being rescued from, you're being rescued too. And the anchor is already set and established firm, and it's drawing you in, drawing you to Himself, so you won't drift away. Jesus Christ, the forerunner, has done that.

The winch that is drawing us in is God's predetermined counsel. Nothing alters that. Nothing changes that. It says in verse 17, determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it with an oath. It says that this anchor is sure and steadfast, not just synonyms.

They mean specifically two things. Number one, that the anchor is undisturbed by outward influences. This huge, massive pull on us, the anchor of our hope, is drawing us into safety and satisfaction. It is sure and steadfast, meaning, number one, it is undisturbed by outward influences. It is undisturbed by outward influences.

Waves can hit it all day long, doesn't phase it. And secondly, it is solidly reliable in its inherent character. Sure and steadfast.

It is solidly reliable in its inherent character. So knowing this, what the writer of Hebrews has explained to us with a great deal of imagery, knowing this, we refer then to verse 18 for the practical take home value of this. How does knowing this affect my day to day?

Well, first of all, you have to know it. You have to grasp it and understand it. That rescue is necessary, rescue is also provided. Rescue means stepping off the dock and into the boat. But as you step into the boat, you're not just launched off to drift in the sea.

You are being drawn to the destination, which is God Himself. And so it says there in verse 18, we might have strong, middle of the verse, we might have strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. Lay hold of the hope set before us as people of the boat, Christians, those of us who are in Christ.

First of all, number one challenge, make sure you're in the boat. Have you entrusted yourself in faith to Jesus Christ? Because let me affirm it once again this morning, He is your only means of rescue from the coming wrath.

He's it. You can't swim through the waves. You can't keep building on to the dock. The dock might represent your own good works.

It won't reach the other side. Are you in the boat? If you are in the boat, then what does the writer of Hebrews tell us? Lay hold of the hope that is set before us.

The word lay hold means to seize it. Seize the hope that is set before us. This is the antithesis of despair. We are rescued. No more despair.

No longer a citizen of the island of doom. Being the antithesis of despair, what does that mean? First of all, seeing more than the dark broken and doomed island in the sea of unrighteousness. We look around us, you know, we might see a great deal of unrighteousness surrounding us. And we become, we can become fixated on the unrighteousness that is around us.

And we become despairing because of all of the unrighteousness that surrounds us and yet even might be a part of us. But instead of just seeing the dark and the broken and the doomed island, we look towards and anticipate the destination. I am in the boat. I am being drawn towards safety, the mainland, the father.

I'm being drawn toward that. I look towards the destination and that then becomes my focus. I patiently endure as it says in verse 15. What else does it mean that it's not just about despair? Secondly, that we're not just rescued from. This is very, very important folks because I believe that there are probably too many Christians who just think about being rescued from. And here's the point, when you step in the boat and the boat is launched, it doesn't just launch out and start drifting in the ocean, in the sea of unrighteousness. It's not that you're just being rescued from the island. You are being rescued to the mainland, to safety, to satisfaction.

Big, big difference. Because if all you're doing is just being rescued from and you have no destination, then what? You end up going back to the island.

Well, here's a third point. We're in the boat. We have been rescued.

We have a guaranteed arrival at the destination. But that boat is still afloat currently. It is still afloat in what? The sea of unrighteousness. The waves that are crashing against the boat. If you're in the boat and the waves are crashing against it, are you going to get a little bit splashed?

You are. Christians understand this. Just because you're in the boat doesn't mean you don't get splashed by the sea of unrighteousness. You will get splashed. It doesn't mean your destination changes. It doesn't mean you've lost your anchor. You still have a high priest, the anchor of your soul. But you will get splashed though you have a guaranteed survival. And here's the good news. Even though you get splashed by the sea of unrighteousness, ultimately you remain unaffected by that splash.

It doesn't change your destination. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.