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.
Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. I will bless thee in multiplying, I will multiply thee. And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
For men verily swear by the greater. And an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise, that's us, the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. That is, the who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. There's our word hope. Notice we're given a strong consolation, and you know where we get our word consol.
It means to comfort. We have strong consolation. We lay hold on the hope that is set before us who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon and then he describes it a little bit better in verse 19.
It goes a little further. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, so you know who we're talking about here, made in high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. I want to lay some groundwork today so that next week, in a sense, as we draw this all, you're going to understand, especially the end of this passage, how this all just comes together, how it glues everything together for us to understand as we're going through this journey of life, that it is so easy for us to let circumstances and things knock us off course. And I want you to listen today.
Just use your brains this morning. Open your hearts and minds, and I want to be a help to you. Let's pray. Lord, I love you. Thank you for all you've done.
Thank you for the music, how it's been encouraging. Thank you for our people that have been so faithful today. Lord, I pray that you'd bless them. And Lord, I pray you'd bless your word as we have some brief moments here, Lord, I pray that you'd help me to not only rightfully divide your word, but to be clear and concise. And Lord, to get the message of cross that you've laid on my heart. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
The anchor of hope. So in order for us to understand this passage, there's so much in here. And you say, all right preacher, there's a lot of fancy big words here. What are we talking about?
Let's lay it out and make it very, very simple for you. Number one, I want you to notice the first thing, and of course we don't know the author for sure of Hebrews. I believe it to be Paul, but that's just my opinion. A lot of people believe that. But it's not like if I'm wrong, that I'm not going to heaven, okay?
We just, we don't know for sure. But I just, for sake of illustration, I might often say, and I believe Paul here says, notice the first thing that is brought up. The covenant from God. What is a covenant? A covenant is a binding agreement, a promise. Look at, if you go to verse 13. For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself. So what is, you say preacher, okay, what is the covenant from God mentioned in this passage? It's a promise that God gave to Abraham. And whenever God promises something, that is a binding agreement. It means you can count on it.
So let me ask you this automatically. Okay, so what was the promise, preacher? Notice, he says here in verse 13, that God said because I could swear by no greater, he swear by himself.
Now look at this, I want you to get this. That means this. How do we know? What kind of guarantee do we have on this covenant? Well, God said because there is nothing greater that he could lay down as a guarantee, other than his own name, God laid down his own name as a guarantee for this promise. He could swear by no greater than himself, so he swore by himself. He made an oath. He made a promise.
And he basically used his name as collateral. If I ever let go or do not honor this promise, then my name is no longer powerful, I'm no longer God, and we know God's not gonna let that happen. All right, so first thing he brings is the covenant. You say, all right, so what was the covenant? Notice if you would, as he says here in verse 14, saying, surely I will bless, or in blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply thee. This was God's covenant to Abraham. He said, I'm gonna bless you and I'm gonna multiply your seed. Now, because God gave this promise to Abraham, this covenant, it applies to us.
We are of the seed and lineage of Christ, who is of the lineage and line of Abraham, and this is handed down to us. It's a covenant that God's made with us that to his children, I'm gonna bless you and I'm gonna multiply you. By the way, there's still verses in the Bible where God says, my grace is sufficient. That's his blessing.
There's still where he says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. That is God blessing his children. God has made a covenant with us, and he's laid down his very name as the collateral, and the promise was that I'll bless you and I'll multiply you. Now, let me ask you this, you would ask this question, all right, how was that covenant accomplished?
How did it happen? Well, notice what the passage says. Look at verse 15. And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
Look at me, I want you to get this. God makes a covenant with Abraham, and when God makes this covenant with Abraham, he lays down his name as the collateral. And this passage says, all right, the way that promise was fulfilled is that Abraham endured, and because he endured to the end, he received the promise.
Everybody got that? Now, you say, all right, preacher, so what is your point here? Do you understand in a covenant that there is always God giving the promise, and there is always an interval period of time between when God gives the promise and when God fulfills the promise? It means there's the promise, and there's always a time period, and then that promise is performed. Everybody with me so far?
So, God made a promise to Abraham, and because Abraham endured that time period between the promise and between God performing it, because Abraham endured because he stayed faithful, God performed the promise that he had given. Is everybody on the same page so far? Now, I know it's a lot, but you gotta understand.
Is everybody good? Say amen. So that you understand it. All right, I got another question. You say, okay, so preacher, what are you trying to say?
Look at me. What you and I have to understand is that in our life, as God's children, God has given us promises, but we don't know sometimes it's a short period of time. Sometimes it's a long period of time, but whenever God makes a promise, there's always a period of time where we must endure, where we must honor him, trust him, serve him, and then comes the promise when that is fulfilled. So we have the promise, we know that's where we're going, but we have to be faithful and we have to endure to the end where we receive that promise.
Everybody with me so far? Okay, notice the second thing he brings up. Not just the covenant from God, but notice secondly, the counsels of God. Now you say, all right, preacher, I don't really understand this. Now look at verse 17. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise, that's us, the immutability of his counsel, counsel. What does the word immutability mean?
It means unchangeable. So God made a covenant and because he wanted to show and prove that it is unchangeable, that he means what he says, it says this in this verse that God wanted to show the immutability of his counsel. Now you say, all right, what are the counsels of God? Now notice verse 17. God wanted to show the immutability of his counsel, so he confirmed it, this passage says, look at verse 17 at the end, by an oath. What does that mean?
It means this, all right, look at me. God made a covenant, made a promise, and he wanted to prove that promise is so binding and so lasting that he proved it with his counsel. So God, through his counsel, made a covenant and he proved that covenant with his counsel. And he proved his counsel with his covenant. Are you confused yet?
Let me put it this way, I want you to get this. We have the covenant of God and we have the counsels of God. So we know what a covenant is, what are the counsels of God? Now I want you to get this, the covenants of God or his promises are all founded upon his counsel.
You say, I don't really understand that, listen to me. The counsels of God are the product of God's omnipresence, God's omnipotence, and God's omniscience. That means this, God is not gonna make a promise unless he knows he can fulfill the promise. And the way God knows he can fulfill a promise is because he is omnipresent which means he's everywhere. He is omniscient which means he knows everything. He is omnipotent which means he can do anything he wants to do. So because God knows the past, he knows the present, he already knows the future because God is not only here but he's there and he's everywhere, God has a whole lot of knowledge and a whole lot of wisdom that you and I don't have. And because his counsel is binding, it's unchangeable, he is therefore able to make covenants or promises that he knows he can keep.
Are you with me so far? Let me give you a couple more statements if I can. God's counsels is literally the sum total of God's wisdom, God's will, and God's word. It is literally everything God knows, everything that God has given to us, and every purpose that God wishes to accomplish. He has all knowledge, he knows everything, that is the counsels of God. The counsel of God is literally God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit who have settled on something and God is his counsel. Now, that means this, by the way, you and I need the counsel of God. Yeah, you're right, so where do we find the counsel of God and the covenants of God?
You say, preacher, what do you mean? Get this, now notice if you would verse 18, look at verse 18, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie. So here Paul says this, God's given his promises, he's given those promises based on his counsel, and God has given two things that are unchangeable.
In order for us to get from point A, now listen, we're gonna get to all this in a second. In order to get from point A to point B, where the promise is given and the promise is fulfilled, in order for us to get from there to there, to there, to there, we need something we can count on. So God has given his counsel and his covenant, it is unchangeable, it's immutable, that you can count on it, it's never gonna change, it's not gonna go up and down with circumstances or with culture or with anything else. God's promised it, you can count on it, and God promised it because of his wisdom and his word and his will, so you can count on that. And in order for us to get to point A to point B, God has given us two things that are unchangeable, and guess where both of those things are found? In the word of God. Isn't it neat how God's organized everything that of all days we have this ministry in? To show how God has preserved his word?
Look at me, I want you to get this. I need something to get me from point A to point B as I serve the Lord. We're not even there yet in the passage, so God says, all right, here's what I'm gonna give you. I'm gonna give you my promise, my covenant.
I'm gonna bless you, I'm gonna multiply you. So that when times get tough from point A to point B, I've got some promises that I can go to. And I know I can count on his promises because I can count on his will, because I can count on his wisdom, because he wouldn't have made the promise if he didn't already know he could keep it because he's already seen the future and he knows how everything's gonna turn out, so he made a promise knowing he could keep it.
Everybody got it. So this fancy word immutable means unchanging. And so literally, who I believe is Paul here, he is saying this, that literally, God gave Abraham a promise and Abraham endured, so Abraham received that promise. So God has given you and us promises, and in order for us to receive those promises, we have to be faithful enough to endure. And the way you and I are faithful enough to endure is the fact that we count on, we stand on, we trust the counsel of God and the covenants of God, and both of them are in God's word.
Now I know you're like, well, I feel like I've got him in a class. You know, I sat through Sunday school and I heard all these things, and now I'm sitting in here, there's just too much I can handle. All right, let's look at the third thing and let's start applying.
All right, only got a couple minutes left. I want you to look, if you would, if you don't mind, and I know you don't. Look at verse 18. That by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have, now look at verse 18, we might have, God's given us, because of we know we need to endure to the end, we might have, what does it say?
A strong what? Consolation. So this is what God's brought up. The covenant from God, the counsels of God, and the consolation from God. That word consolation is comfort. It's the things that literally encourage you as you are trying to endure from point A to point B. So God's given you consolation.
Now let's look at it before we apply. Look at verse 18. Who have fled for refuge, that's us, to lay hold upon the hope. So in order for me to get from point A to point B, I've gotta lay hold of something that gives me hope. And when I lay my hands on something that gives me hope, that gives me consolation, it helps me to keep going even though it's tough. Now what does he say, look at verse 19. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. Now the majority of this we're not gonna get to today.
I hope you'll come back next week. You'll really understand it all. Boy there's some good things in these last couple verses. Wow.
But let me explain if I can. I believe Paul creates a scenario here. And he says this, that God gave Abraham a promise. And when God gave Abraham the promise, there's always a time period before that promise is performed. And why Abraham ended up receiving that promise is because he endured through that time.
That's what we call life. God's given us promises from his word. And we are on our way where? So we are a ship.
And what does he say? It's an anchor to the soul. So our soul is the ship.
You say now why is it our soul preacher? Well the soul, this is a picture of our life. Our soul has cargo that we carry. In other words, as I serve the Lord, let me show you this, just part of it. One of the things my, I almost drowned in that water there.
One of the things. It's a good thing I know how to swim, so one of the pieces of cargo that our soul as a ship, I need in my soul for me to get to point A to point B is comfort. That means this, I need to be able to lay in a hospital and even when my body cannot be comforted, even when my body is diseased, in pain, in suffering, whatever, I might not have a medicine I can take, there might not be a surgery that a doctor can do, there might be some physical things that I can't do anything about, but I need my soul to be comforted. You see as God's made the promise, I go to prepare a place for you and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also.
That's a promise, but it hasn't been performed yet. And sometimes as I'm in my little boat heading to heaven, I need comfort because if I can't get comfort, I'm gonna quit. How about this? How about this little word?
How about this little piece of cargo? You ever tried to get through a day without peace? Some of you have been through months without peace, it's tough isn't it?
Makes you want to get out of church, makes you want to quit reading the Bible, makes you want to give up. Listen, our soul needs peace. You see there's times in my life that my life could have chaos, but my soul can have peace. So, I need an anchor to the soul.
How about this? You know, if I can, just another little piece of cargo. How about joy?
In order for me on my journey to get from here to there, guess what? I am gonna stop and I am gonna quit if I don't have joy. You see, my soul can have joy even when my body has pain. My soul can have joy even when my emotions have been crushed by a person. My soul can have joy even though we got that phone call on Wednesday evening. I sat right down here in the front row on Friday with Ms. Barbara Overaker and Joy Moorefield obviously and we were just sitting there and they're just weeping.
Read him some verses just to try to comfort him a little bit. You know what I found? Let me tell you something. There's nothing I'm gonna say that's gonna be able to bring Wayne back. I can't do that from point A to point B.
That's just out of my pay grade. But what I can do is give them an anchor of hope that brings joy to the soul. So here's what Paul says. Literally God's made a promise Abraham endured. So you and I have been given a promise so somehow we have to endure. And so in order to be able to endure, God has given us two things that are unchangeable. His counsel and his covenant.
And both of them are in the word of God. And the picture he is painting is that our soul has been given a promise. We are on our way to heaven.
Look at me. Our body does not go to heaven. Our mind doesn't go to heaven. But our soul does. Aren't you glad we have an anchor not to the mind? We don't have an anchor to the body. We have an anchor to the soul. And as I'm trying, I'm heading my way to heaven.
Look at me. I want you to get this. There's gonna be a whole bunch of things that are gonna come against me to try to knock me off course.
Everybody got that so far? We're gonna have some storms that are gonna pop up. There are gonna be a whole lot of things that are gonna come against us. There's gonna be a whole lot of lightning and wind that's gonna try to knock around our little boat. And the more things happen that knock around our boat and we're unstable and we're moved by every circumstance in our life, guess what happens? Joy falls off the side. That precious cargo of peace, expectation, comfort, it falls over the side.
Now we're here trying to get from point A to point B. We don't have joy. We don't have comfort. We don't have peace. Our soul is confused and our soul is at unrest and before long, guess what happens?
We quit. I mean as you go through life, there's some storms called trials and they're gonna fight against your soul. They're gonna come at you. How about this one?
I thought it was interesting. Persecution. Remember what we preached a couple weeks ago? God says there will be persecution. There will be persecution. That's gonna come against you. You know, Brother William in Sunday School talked about some of these men that preserved the Word of God were killed because of it.
I mean you think that wouldn't knock around your little boat a little bit? How about this one? Infections, disease, sickness, things that come at you mentally. How about this one? Temptations.
Here you are. Hey God's given me a promise and I'm serving God and here I am going and all of a sudden Satan shows up and knows where to push the buttons and then we mess up and then we feel guilty. Now our joy is gone. Now our peace is gone and we think, well I tell you what, I've just blown it and I've done so bad.
Why even keep trying? And we put down the oar and we just let things go. So Paul says for us to get to this journey, we're heading to the dock of heaven. That's where our destination and here we are and we're trying to go but our little boat's gonna get tossed and turned because we're human, we're flesh and we're natured that way. Paul says we need an anchor of hope to the soul. Now next week you're gonna find out, this water's killing me.
I'm sorry, did I mess the water up? You're gonna find out next week a whole lot about our anchor. So you're just gonna have to come back. Paul says if I'm gonna make it from here to here, here's what I need. I need an anchor of hope. And notice what Paul says in a sense and I want you to get it. He says literally that I need an anchor of hope for the soul. Jesus is our rock, the Bible says.
So that means as I am going from the promise that God has made to me and I'm going to the performance of that promise, I got storms, lightning, wind, trials, circumstances, disease, I mean all kinds of things coming at me and it's just, man it's just knocking my boat back and forth and about every day or every other day I lose some joy and you know here comes a week and I lose some peace during that week and here comes this and I lose trust and I lose confidence in God and all these things so I have got to stay anchored to something that doesn't move. Now you've heard people say that Jesus is my anchor, not according to this passage. Jesus is the rock that we are anchored to.
Look at me. So what is the anchor that he mentions in this passage? The anchor are the covenants and councils of God.
The promises that you and I can hold onto by hope. That keeps us anchored to Jesus. Look at me, when I begin to lose trust in God's promises, when I begin to doubt God's counsel, then I am not anchored to Jesus.
That's when life begins to just knock me here and there, tossed to and fro with the wind as the Bible says. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways but if I keep my focus and say you know what, God gave me these promises. He made a covenant. God said I'll never leave you nor forsake you and God wouldn't have made that covenant if he didn't know what was going to happen.
Look at me, I want you to get this. God's covenants, God's counsel is never changing because there will never, there will never anything come up in your life that he hasn't already seen. There's nothing that could happen in your life that would change anything with God because he's already seen it, he already knew it was there, he was there before you were even born. So because he knew it before you were ever even born, his covenant, his counsel is unchangeable because it's not dictated by your circumstances because he already saw your circumstances.
It's not dictated by your failures because he's already seen your failures. So the way I and my little ship of my soul, the only way I stay stable with all these storms coming at me is I'm trying to get to my destination and when I'm trying to get to the fulfillment, to the performance of my promise, I've got to stay anchored to the rock. I've got to stay connected to Jesus. I've got to put every bit of my trust, my confidence, everything that I have, I've got to lay it on Jesus and the only way I can do that is if I believe his promises and his counsel.
You can trust it. Get this before I close. Contribution is the continuous application of God's covenant and God's counsel. 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.
