Settled Matters Because God Promised

Transcript

GR 1689
5/12/2013
Settled Matters Because God Promised
Hebrews 6:13-20
Gil Rugh

We're going to Hebrews 6 in your Bibles. We've been talking about the warning passage. This is the third one of these passages, usually called warning passages, that he focuses attention on his readers, applying the great truths he is talking about. These Hebrew Christians, a congregation of believers who are Jewish and under the pressures that they have been facing and are anticipating, some of them are contemplating whether a return to Judaism would provide some relief. This warning passage had several parts. It started in Hebrews 5:11, that first section in verses 11-14 contained a rebuke to them for their lack of maturity. The very fact that they would be contemplating a return to Judaism and the Mosaic system indicates a failure to have any depth of understanding of the plan of God and His accomplishments in Christ. So that was a rebuke—you ought to be more mature, you've become slow of hearing, dull. Then he went on to encourage them in Hebrews 6:1-3 with the exhortation, let's go on to maturity. We need to grow, we'll grow together. He gave a warning—the only alternative is you would reject the light and truth that God has brought to you. In verses 4-8 he warns them, if you turn back it will be to destruction. You will close the door to salvation forever. Then that final encouragement in verses 9-12, I'm convinced you are believers. I've been speaking harshly, but I've seen evidence in your lives that you are a congregation of believers and I want you to be encouraged. I want you to continue to develop and have the stability and confidence that comes from the full assurance of hope so, verse 12, “that you will not be sluggish,” picking up that same word that was translated dull in Hebrews 5:11. I don't want you to remain in that immature, childish state where you have no desire nor ability in your present state to grapple with the serious things of God's revelation. So you will not be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

We come to verses 13-20 that close out this chapter. Different ways to look at these verses, some connect them as part of the warning passage, and I have no problem with that. We'll see some of the strong connections that are there. Some see it as a new section basically transitioning into the discussion of the priesthood and that's true also. The point that is being made in these verses is that God is absolutely faithful, He is completely trustworthy. And that means you have to hold on to firmly the hope that He has given in His promises, and that will bring stability to your life. And that hope is found ultimately in Jesus Christ and the work He has done to make it possible for us to come into the very presence of the living God.

As we come into this section there are several words he will pick up from verses 9-12 and carry over into verses 13-20 that show a connection here. He'll talk about hope, he'll talk about patience, he'll talk about the promise that God has given. So he is carrying over some of these ideas and developing them. You'll notice verse 13 begins with that little preposition “for.” “For when God made the promise to Abraham.” So he is continuing the discussion in that sense, there is a connection and a development of his thoughts. For when God made the promise to Abraham. You ought to note here the emphasis—God made the promise. This is foundational to everything, everything in verses 13-20 is focused on God giving His promise and securing that promise so that we can have complete confidence in it. We're talking about future things primarily. We'll go back and look into the past and the more immediate present in what has happened, but ultimately when we talk about hope, when we talk about promise, we're talking about things not yet fully realized, not yet part of our concrete experience, as we'll see. God made the promise. That changes everything. God has spoken, He has promised something, it's a promise He gave to Abraham.

And now we've picked up a key word here. Verse 12 said, “so you will not be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” The particular promises he's talking about are the promises originally given to Abraham. He is one we ought to imitate in how we respond to what God has promised—with faith, with patience so that we can be those who inherit the promises. He's continuing that emphasis on the promise, the promise. Abraham is the great example. The writer of Hebrews is very fond of Abraham as an example. Ten times he'll refer to Abraham. Hebrews 11 we'll get a more full unfolding of Abraham's life of faith. He is a key example through the New Testament of living a life of faith and of patience as we have here. He's a man we ought to imitate in these areas.

For “when God made the promise to Abraham since He could swear by no one greater He swore by Himself saying, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” So God made a promise to Abraham and he refers to a specific instance. That quote in verse 14 and the situation being referred to comes from Genesis 22.

I want you to come back to Genesis, but I want you to go all the way back to Genesis 12. Abraham comes into a history account in Genesis at the end of Genesis 11. And we'll talk more about that when we get to Hebrews 11, which carries us back to this time. But verse 27, verse 26 in that section gives you the history here, where Genesis 11:26, “Terah lived 70 years and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. Now these are the records of the generation of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.” So we have that account. We're interested as we pick up Genesis 12. “Now the Lord said to Abram,” whose name will be changed later we'll see to Abraham. So if I call him Abraham even though it says Abram here, his name will be changed. But here he is still Abram.

“The Lord said to Abram, go from your country, from your relatives, from your father's house to the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation, I will bless you, make your name great. You will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” This is the foundational Abrahamic Covenant which contains the promises of God, the promises of God to the physical descendants of Abraham, the promises of God to those who will not be the physical descendants of Abraham. You'll note at the end of verse 3, “in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” So there are two distinct areas here, groups of people—the Jewish people who are the physical descendants of Abraham and those who are connected to Abraham but are not Jewish. The key issue in this as we will see later in our study is faith. Those who have the faith of Abraham among his physical descendants will inherit the promises, particularly as it relates to the physical descendants. Those who are not the physical descendants but have the faith of Abraham will inherit blessings promised in the Abrahamic Covenant. So this foundational covenant which will be referred to a number of times is basic to everything.

Verse 4, “so Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him, Lot went with him.” Now note this, Abram was 75 years old when he departed from Haran. God gives a covenantal promise to Abram. He's going to bless him, make him great, make him a great nation. That means his descendants will ultimately comprise a great nation, that will be the nation Israel. And all the families of the earth will be blessed in him. As you are familiar with the account, and we're told here Abram is 75 years old. He has a wife named Sarah, Sarai, Sarah. They have no children but God has promised him enough physical descendants to become a great nation. It's going to be 25 years before Abraham has the son that could fulfill this promise. If that's not enough, just as an aside, it will be 80 years before he has any grandchildren, which you can see moving out from just having one son who could fulfill the promise to begin to have more descendants with grandchildren.

Come to Genesis 13 and you see the progress along as time goes by. And in Genesis 13 we have this covenantal promise repeated again at a little later time, after Abram and Lot go their separate ways, Lot being the nephew of Abram. “The Lord said to Abram,” verse 14, “now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward, southward, eastward, westward. For all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your seed forever.” That land, physical land, the land you see. I saw something in the paper the last week where a Jewish leader said it is wrong for the Jews to try to claim the land as theirs on the basis of Old Testament promises. Those promises are just spiritual, not physical. Well, Abraham didn't know that. He said, look around, the land you see in all directions, verse 15, “all the land which you see, I will give it to you and your seed forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth. If anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can be numbered. Walk through the land, its length and breadth. I will give it to you. Look over, it's all yours. Walk around, it belongs to you and your descendants that you're not going to be able to count.” That's fine, but it's just a promise. There still is no child.

Look over in Genesis 15. Time goes by. God reiterates His promise and tells Abram in a vision, “I am a shield to you. Don't be afraid, your reward will be very great.” Abram says, I don't have any kids. How are you going to reward me with all you have promised? I'm childless. The heir, since he has no children, the logical heir would be his chief servant if he dies. “The Lord said to him, ‘this man will not be your heir,’” verse 4, “but one who comes forth from your own body shall be your heir. Look up at the stars.” That clear night, you know they didn't have city lights and so on so the countless stars visible in the heavens. “He said, ‘if you are able to count them, that's what your descendants are going to be like.’”

Verse 6, “he believed the Lord and the Lord counted it to him as righteousness.” I mean, Abram is a great man of faith. You know times going by, he has a barren wife who has never been able to conceive. He's moving on in years. God keeps reiterating the same promise to him. But that's all I have—a promise. Don't you think it's about time we move this along? I'm not getting any younger. I filled that in, Abram didn't say that.

Come over to Genesis 17. In Genesis 16 we have that idea from Sarai that Abram goes along with that maybe Abram ought to take the servant girl and have a child by her and that way, then that could be their child. So Ishmael is born of that. Genesis 17 opens up, “when Abram was 99 years old,” 24 years have gone by since that promise in Genesis 12. That promise has been repeated several times but nothing has come of it. All he has is the Word of God that He would do this. “The Lord appeared to Abram and said, I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, I will multiply you exceedingly.” And God talked with him saying, verse 4, “as for Me, behold My covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer will your name be called Abram but your name will be changed to Abraham. I will make you a father of a multitude of nations, I will make you exceedingly fruitful, I will make nations of you and kings will come from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendants after you. I will give to you and your descendants after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession.” That's nice, still just a promise.

Come down to verse 17. And Sarai's name is changed to Sarah in verse 15 and then God says, “I will bless her,” verse 16, “and indeed I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, she will be the mother of nations. Kings and peoples will come from her. Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said in his heart, will a child be born to a man 100 years old and Sarah who is 90 years old bear a child? We have not been able to have a child together all our lives, during the most fertile period of life. Now I am 99 and she is 90 and you're talking about us going to have a child together.” I mean, does this sound a little bit ridiculous. Abraham said, you know, Lord, like often we think we can help God out of His predicament. So Abraham is going to let God know that He can be off the hook and still get credit for fulfilling the promise.

So he says in verse 18, “oh that Ishmael might live before you.” That would be fine, Lord, he is my son. Not through Sarah but he's my son. Lord, I'd be satisfied, I just ask that you bless Ishmael. And if all those covenant blessings come to Ishmael, we'll count it good. God says, no, we won't. That's not what I promised. No, but “Sarah your wife will bear a son. You shall call his name Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him.” I'll bless Ishmael. You've asked me to bless Ishmael, I'll bless Ishmael. But, verse 21, “My covenant I will establish with Isaac.” Abraham is 99, going to have a son with his wife, Sara, ten years younger.

You know the account. Come over to Genesis 22. Stop at Genesis 21 first, just so you know. “The Lord took note of Sarah, did as He had promised.” Here you see part of a promise being fulfilled. Sarah conceived, bore a son to Abraham. “Abraham,”verse 5, “was 100 years old when Isaac was born to him.” Sarah is just as amazed—I'm nursing a child, a 90-year-old woman who throughout her entire life had never been able to conceive a child. Now I have a son? This is the hand of God obviously.

Come over to Genesis 22 . So things are rolling along now. Finally Abraham and Sarah have been rewarded and Abraham's faithfulness God has honored. It took 25 years but God gave him a son through whom the covenantal promises of descendants and the blessings could be realized. You come to Genesis 22, “now it came about after these things that God tested Abraham and said to him, ‘Abraham.’” “Abraham said, ‘here I am.’” “God said, ‘take now your son.’” Note how this emphasized, “take now your son, your only son.” Ishmael doesn't count here because the promises of the covenant must come through Isaac, remember. “Your only son, this is the son whom you love—Isaac.” See who I am talking about here, this one who is so precious to you, the object of your deepest affections. You go to the land of Moriah and you offer him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I'll tell you. You talk about a disaster. I mean, waited 25 years for the son in whom and through whom God could fulfill the promises He gave me in that covenant. Now He wants me to take him off and offer him as a burnt offering. Do you know what that means? There won't be anything left of him but the ashes, really. I'm going to take him, kill him and burn him as an offering to the Lord? We think, how long would Abraham mull this over and argue with the Lord. Lord, you've asked me, I will do whatever, I trust you, but I can't do this. Maybe decided to spend weeks or months in prayer.

I love the next verse, verse 3, “so Abraham rose early in the morning.” God told him what to do, there is no sense in wasting time. What's to discuss? God has spoken, I know what He said. “Take Isaac to the land of Moriah, I will appoint the mountain and you offer him as a burnt offering.” There is nothing to pray about. Get ready and go. Abraham is remarkable in his faith. The next morning he packs up. There is nothing said that he told Sarah where they were going. You know, mothers are mothers—praise the Lord for that. But there could have been a real family battle here, perhaps. Imagine what is going through Abraham's mind. I'm taking Isaac here, we're going off and I'm going off to offer him as a burnt offering. We know some of what was going on in Abraham's mind, we'll get that in Hebrews 11.

“So he rises up, he goes down,” there is conversation. Verse 9, “they came to the place God told him, Abraham built the altar, arranged the wood.” There is going to be the fire that will burn him after he kills him. Then he ties up Isaac, binds him, lays him on the altar, takes the knife, stretches out his hand, ready to come down. Imagine Isaac lying there bound up, looking up at his father ready to plunge the knife into him. “Then the angel of the Lord,” verse 11, “called to him from heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. Here I am. Don't stretch out your hand for I know that you fear God, you've not withheld your son.”

Come down a little bit further. Verse 15, “then the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven.” Incidentally, this is one of the passages that would indicate the angel of the Lord is the pre-incarnate Christ because what the angel of the Lord does here. And in the book of Hebrews where we are studying we're told that God was speaking, God doing this. And here we have the verse quoted in Hebrews 6. “He said, by Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord.” And so the promise repeated. “Indeed I will greatly bless you, I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens, as the sand which is on the seashore. Your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” God confirms the promise He had given repeatedly to Abraham, He confirms it now with an oath. I have sworn by Myself. This is what is going to be developed through this last part of Hebrews 6.

Just an aside. You cannot honor God by exalting Him to second place in your life. Abraham could not honor God by having Isaac #1 and God #2. Similar to Ezekiel's situation, we won't go there but the prophet Ezekiel in I believe it's Ezekiel 24. “God said to Ezekiel, your wife, the wife that you love, that wife so precious to you, she is going to die tonight. And you are not allowed to mourn for her, you're not allowed to give any indication of sorrow. You just get up and represent Me and say what I tell you to say.” Now again, understand what Jesus said, “if you love father or mother, brother or sister, if you love your family, your friends more than Me you cannot be My disciple.” The reality of this. Our children are precious to us, our husbands, our wives are precious to us. God must be foremost. Abraham demonstrated this here. Above all I trust God and I obey Him, trust that He will work out His purposes and fulfill His promises.

Come back to Hebrews 6. God could not swear by anyone greater so He swore by Himself. When you take an oath, you take an oath by someone or something greater. You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God. You call upon God who is greater to confirm what you are saying. So who is God going to swear by? So He took an oath on the basis of Himself. We'll say more why He did that.

“So He said, I will surely bless you, I will surely multiply you.” And we read that in the statements we read in Genesis 22. That was following the account of Abraham taking Isaac to offer him. That's when God took the oath and gave His promise. It's a promise that had been repeated before, now it's repeated with an oath. And so having patiently waited he obtained the promise. Now one of the key words we say is repeated. Back in verse 12 he wants his Jewish readers, these believers not to be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience, longsuffering, that endurance, staying the course, if you will, and waiting upon God and enduring what you have to. So Abraham went through and he comes and obtained the promise.

Before we proceed jump over to Hebrews 11. And here he'll talk about Abraham beginning in verse 8, and Sarah in verse 11. Then verse 13, “all these died in faith without receiving the promises.” What we just read in Hebrews 6:15, and so having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. When we get to Hebrews 11 we're going to be told that Abraham is one of those “who died without receiving the promises.” Contradiction in Scripture? No, different emphases here. In Hebrews 11 he's talking about the final culmination of the promises, Abraham “looking for a city whose architect and builder is God, a heavenly city.” He died without receiving that. The ultimate realization of the promises for his descendants to possess the land and live in it in peace with all the blessings and so on promised in the development of the Abrahamic Covenant haven't happened to this day. They are yet future.

But back in Hebrews 6:15, “having patiently waited he obtained the promise.” He has the son that God promised, he has the confirmation of God that His promises will be fulfilled in and through this son, even though he will still have to wait for years to have any grandchildren to start the process of multiplying out. And some day he could have seed like the stars of the heavens or the sands of the seashore. But he has received the promise because now it has been not only promised to him, it has been confirmed by an oath. In Isaac these promises will be fulfilled.

Verse 16. He's going to develop this idea of the oath because it becomes important for these people to see how sure God's Word is. Men swear by one greater than themselves. With them an oath is given as confirmation and it's an end of every dispute. An oath is given to confirm something and to settle something. That's why you go to court and you take an oath, for example. Binds you firmly, it settles any question and there are consequences if you lie under oath. Sometimes you'll hear when they are doing a news thing or something, they'll be warning a person, you understand you are under oath and blah, blah. There are consequences because this is settled. Your word will be taken here. So that's what an oath does among men, among human beings. And it confirms something, I'm confirming my word to be true here, this settles it.

“In the same way,” verse 17, “God desiring even more to show to the heirs of promise the unchangeableness of His purpose interposed with an oath.” In the same way God interposed with an oath the same way men do. It is a double guarantee, confirmation that what I am saying is true. This is something settled. Some of you have been in a court proceedings and they put you under oath. Then that can be held against you. If you change it, did you not say under oath this? So God did that because we understand that. In the Old Testament the Jews could only swear by the name of God. We won't go back there, Deuteronomy 6:13, 10:20, “you shall swear only by the name of the Lord you God, recognizing His ultimate authority and power.” That confirmation. Well “God interposed,” that word translated interposed, you have in the margin of your Bible or guaranteed. That would give you more the idea here of this word, it can have shapes of meaning. Guaranteed with an oath. In other words He further confirmed and settled what He had promised. Guaranteed it with an oath.

Who was it for? Desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise. That just wasn't for Abraham and his benefit, but it was for those who were the heirs of the promise, all that is contained in that Abrahamic Covenant of God's blessing for God's physical descendants, the salvation He would provide for them and the blessings of the land and so on. And the spiritual blessings He would provide all for the heirs of the promise. He wanted to show the unchangeableness of His purpose. Why did God take an oath? He just wanted to confirm in a way that humans might understand even more clearly that what I have promised to those who are the heirs of the promise given to Abraham will not change. Will not change. Understand that. I just cannot in my mind understand why people can say, the promises to Israel no longer hold because they have been now transferred to the church and the church is the spiritual Israel. Do we not believe what we read? I mean, God is establishing there His promises even with an oath so that the heirs of the promise would understand that can't change. It can't change. The land belongs to Israel. When the last chapter is entered into and we realize the climax of all that is promised in the Abrahamic Covenant, Israel will have the land. Nothing can change that. Why? God promised and even confirmed the promise with an oath.

Come back to Galatians 3. The promises focus on two separate groups—they physical descendants of Abraham, the Jews; and then the non-physical descendants of Abraham, all the other nations, non-Jews. Remember “in you all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” What is required for both groups to be the beneficiaries and heirs of the promises given to Abraham in that covenant is having the same kind of faith as Abraham. Come to Galatians 3, look at verse 7. “Therefore be sure that it is those who are of faith who are the sons of Abraham. The Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith preached the Gospel beforehand to Abraham saying, all the nations will be blessed in you.” Now that doesn't change the fact He promised specific blessings to the physical descendants of Abraham. They had to have faith, too. But here that promise was expanded out and is the Gospel. That is the good news. God's salvation in Christ is not limited to Jews. Most of us in this room are not Jewish, we're not in the physical line of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and then through the twelve patriarchs. No, we're non-Jewish. But provision was made in the Abrahamic Covenant for us. Aren't you glad? In you all the nations of the earth. Well with all our different nationalities we can have the salvation blessings promised to Abraham given to us.

So those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham the believer, verse 9. What is going on here, verse 14, “in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” Look down in verse 29, and you belong to Christ. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's descendants, heirs according to the promise. Does that mean we have replaced the physical Jews? No. That has never been the issue, that the physical Jews had promises given to them. But you understand the non-physical descendants of Abraham do. The binding thing is faith. Physical descendants of Abraham who are not of the faith of Abraham will be cursed to hell. Non-Jewish people are cursed to hell. But they can get in line for the promises themselves by having the faith of Abraham in the finished work of Christ.

Come back to Hebrews. Now these are Jewish believers we are dealing with in the book of Hebrews. The point here being established is these promises have been confirmed by God for the heirs. So now he can talk to them in their time to show the heirs the unchangeableness of His purpose. Look at verse 18, “so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie.” What are the two unchangeable things? Well, we just went through it. God's promise and God's oath. God couldn't lie with either one. I mean, His purpose was secure the moment He gave it, but it was for our benefit that He guaranteed it with an oath so that we would really understand how this could not be changed. God would break not only His promise, He would break His oath. Again, the Scripture tells us that God cannot lie—Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Titus 1:2. “He's the God who cannot lie.” So to give His word, that's good enough, but for our benefit we humans who can understand that an oath firmly settles and confirms and fixes something, God added the oath.

So by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we. So He includes now himself along with the fellow believers he is writing to. We who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope that is set before us. God wants us to be sure how gracious He is. He knows our frame that we are but dust, how easily we are shaken. Here the pressures, the persecution, the trials and this congregation of believers, some of them are thinking maybe we ought to go back to Judaism. You understand we are heirs of the promise. We have taken refuge. What a great word for these Jews under such pressure. They came to believe in Christ, they have taken refuge in God, the shelter He provides. They may have to suffer but they are protected. Remember what Jesus said to the Jews as He anticipated His crucifixion—“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.” Now in Christ we have fled to Him for refuge, we are hiding in Him.

He intends that we who are heirs of the promise, who have taken refuge in Him, in His provision would have strong encouragement. These believers need to realize God intends them to have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. Here we have had the promises, there has been some progress along the way like with the birth of Isaac, then the birth of Isaac's children and then the patriarchs and then the development of the nation, then primarily the coming of Christ. That's where he is going. But you understand we need this encouragement today, we haven't yet realized all the promises that God has given. We who have taken refuge are to have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope that is set before us.

Come back to Romans 8, we'll break in here, Romans 8:16. “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit we are children of God. If children, now here we are, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ if indeed we suffer with Him that we may be glorified with Him.” Anticipating the ultimate realization. “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed.” Same kind of idea. In Hebrews we have the promises of coming glory, all that God has prepared for us who love Him. The sufferings of this present time, I have to keep them in perspective with the glory that is promised. All creation is groaning and agonizing as it moves toward that time when we, God's sons, enter into the fullness of our inheritance, when our body is glorified.

Verse 24, “for in hope we have been saved.” There is our word. We are to take hold of the hope that has been set before us. “In hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.” These same ideas, we have persevere, we have to be patient, we have to endure, we have to keep on. Why? We're fixed on the hope. One of the tragedies in the evangelical church today is the abandoning of a serious emphasis and a serious grappling with what we call eschatology, the truth of future things. I am so disgusted with reading, well, there are a lot of good Christians who hold different views. Some are pre-trib, some are post-trib, some are pre-millennial, some are post-millennial, some are a-millennial. You say, I don't think we need to make an issue of these things. I do because God makes an issue of it. He says that is my hope. Well, as long as we are agreed that in the end Christ wins, I'll just leave it with Him. However it comes out, it will be good. Do you know what that means? We are like these Hebrews who don't seriously grapple with these truths that God has revealed. How many evangelical Christians have any grasp on the book of Revelation? The truths of the book of Daniel and the prophetic portions of the Word? And wrestle through it? Yes, it makes a difference. This is my hope. So we trivialize so people don't give serious study to it. Well, I want something practical. Always talking about something that is going to happen somewhere in the future. I need help with my marriage, I need help raising kids, I need help . . . And so then we take our focus and make it now. Do you know what that does? That begins to overwhelm you.

That's where these Hebrews are, this congregation of believers. What he is saying is, “you understand the hope you have is fixed. There is turmoil in this life, there is trouble, there are trials.” But nothing changes the hope. And all the suffering, all the difficulty we go through here is nothing compared to the glorious hope that we have. But if you don't know anything about the hope, you're just flopping around. Then pretty soon the confusion expands and our shallowness in the Word begins to overwhelm us. It makes a difference if you understand correctly what God has promised about future things. It's not an irrelevant matter. God didn't have the book of Revelation written just because He didn't quite know how to finish His revelation to man. We'll write a book and then it will be confusing, most won't understand it but they won't care anyway, so tack it on. You understand man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Every word is important.

Come back to Hebrews 6:19, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast. You understand why these Hebrews are unsettled, why they are thinking maybe to go back? This hope is our anchor, the promises of God are an anchor for my soul, it gives stability. The more you understand what God has promised and the hope that we have in Christ and the realization of that hope, the more planted you will be. An anchor that keeps you from being driven here and there, or in the first warning passage of Hebrews 2, keeps you from drifting away from Christ. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. What is that anchor? It's the hope, the promises which are future. How can the church be unconcerned about the promises? Well, if you hold that, that's fine; if you hold that, that's fine. It's not fine anymore than it's fine as long as you hold to the importance of a high priest. Doesn't matter whether it's the Aaronic priest or Christ the priest, we don't have to . . . We do. It matters.

It's one, this hope enters within the veil. Now we've moved. That veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, behind that veil was where the presence of God was manifest among His people. The high priest could only enter once a year, representing the people before God. This is where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. More of this will be developed, he has moved in now to the high priestly ministry of Christ. He entered through that veil. Remember that veil was rent in two? Representing that now access has been provided for us.

“He has become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” We have to end here, but you ought to note something. He has been emphasizing the promise and the oath given to Abraham. Back in Hebrews 5:6 we had a promise— “you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” That comes from Psalm 110:4, remember. But do you know what the first part of that verse says? “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind.” He took an oath and it's unchangeable. Christ is a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. You understand how serious this is. We have the settled, confirmed, sure Word of God. You who are going to turn back from Christ to the Law have rejected the Word of God, calling God a liar. And will be held accountable accordingly. These are settled matters.

“We have a hope that is fixed.” That promise required the coming of the One who would be the Savior. He has provided that salvation, we have it. But we are still heirs, looking ahead, looking ahead, looking ahead. Some day we will be walking this earth, going and visiting, even the Jews in their land, administering a kingdom. We haven't entered into that yet.

Yes, I know, you Christians believe Christ is coming and as Peter said, they say all things continue as they were from the beginning. You can turn on the TV and watch a program and they'll tell you how things have been going on for so many billions of years and we continue to evolve. And we need to be concerned about global warming because if we don't take care of it, the world will stop existing. I'm fine if they do something about global warming. I don't lose sleep over it either way. I mean, if they want me to drive a battery operated car, I guess I'll do it, or a bicycle. I mean. Those things don't matter. Do you know what matters? I have a hope, I've read the last chapter, I understand how it ends. I know what He has promised.

You get cancer, you have wayward children, you have parents who reject you because you've become a believer. All these pressures and trials come. What sustains us? What gives you stability and carries you on? We sometimes make it nebulous—well, I have Christ. And it's true, but He gave us details, specifics. That's the anchor. This is what He has prepared, this is what I'm looking for. We are strangers and pilgrims here. Our citizenship is in heaven, we're eagerly looking for the coming of our Savior, the blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior, a kingdom that He is going to establish. We will rule and reign with Him. In His Father's house are many dwelling places, He goes to prepare a place for us. He will come again so we can be where He is. Our hope is anchored in the very presence of God, and access there has been provided for us. We have stability through the turmoil of life.

People are running around concerned over social issues, political issues, all those. They have a place but for us as believers we oughtn't to be unsettled. Our concern is not what is happening to this world today, we're focused on where we are going and sharing the good news of a Savior who brings salvation to all who will believe in Him. And when you become His child, you become an heir; when you become an heir, you have a hope; when you focus on that hope and grasp onto it, you will have stability that will see you through every situation.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. Lord, we would not take for granted the wonder of the promises You have given. And they are promises to us who are heirs of the promises. We have taken refuge in You our God, in Christ our Savior, in the truth that You have revealed. Lord, may we have that stability that only You bring to a life when we take hold of the promises You have given. We pray in Christ's name, amen.