“A Steadfast Anchor” – FBC Morning Light (12/17/2024)

Good Tuesday morning to you. Yesterday we began the book of Hebrews and read chapters 1 to 5, and today we're continuing in that book, reading chapters 6 through 9.

This really is a wonderful book of the New Testament, isn't it? The book of Hebrews, it lays out the truth that Christ is supreme,

He is above all, and explains why. And especially in relationship to the

Old Covenant, the Old Testament. And there are all kinds of allusions and references to things of the

Old Testament. In chapter 6, one of the things that is referred to is the the promise that was made to Abraham, and it's a promise that continues in under the

New Covenant. And the promises that are held out in that covenant are, they comprise a hope that we have.

And you know, if there's one thing that is lacking in our world, it is really a solid, objective hope.

You know what I mean? There's a lot of speculative or subjective hope, you know, where we say things like, well,

I hope everything's gonna turn out all right, well I hope with a new president, you know, interest rates are gonna come down, the economy's going to improve,

I hope that things can turn around in our country, I hope, you know, hope, I hope. And we, you know, it's out there, but is there really an objective basis for that hope?

Not always, and a lot of those hopes and dreams are unfulfilled and unrealized.

But, but, if you know Christ Jesus as your Savior, you have a hope that is sure.

And we see this in chapter 6, verse 19, where the writer says, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.

What is that hope? Well, I believe if you look in the context, it's really the hope of eternal life, it's the hope of all that God has promised to his people through the millennia, it's the hope of eternal life and all that it entails, it's the hope of place, an eternal home, heaven, it's the hope of glory, it's the hope of glorification, it's the hope of perfection, it's the hope of an eternal dwelling with God.

And all that is wrapped up in this hope of eternal life, which

God, who cannot lie, promised before the world began. This hope we have, the writer says, is an anchor of the soul, is both sure and steadfast.

Now why is it so sure and steadfast? Well, the next verse tells us.

Because it's a hope that is sure and steadfast and enters the presence, that is, the dwelling place of God, behind the veil.

Again, here we have some Old Testament references, the reference to the temple or the tabernacle, where God's dwelling place was in that Holy of Holies, and separating the dwelling place of God from all the people is the veil.

Nobody was ever allowed to go inside that Holy of Holies except the high priest once a year, all right?

Verse 20 tells us that Christ is the one who has entered behind that veil for us.

He is our forerunner. He is the one who's gone before us. What did he do?

In his offering of himself as a sacrifice for our sins, he entered into that Holy of Holies.

He went through the veil, if you will, offered himself on the altar, if you will, and it was the cross.

He offered himself in our behalf, and because of his sacrificial work, the hope that we have of eternal life is not just some nebulous, speculative sort of thing, it is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.

He died in my place. He bore my sins in his own body on the cross, and he did that so that I might have eternal life.

And he has promised, God's Word has promised, that whoever believes in him in Christ, whoever puts their faith and trust wholly in him, shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

This is the promise of God. And if you look earlier in chapter 6, you have this reference to the promise that was made to Abraham, it's a promise that began with Abraham, and it has continued ever since, and it continues to this day.

God has graciously promised that if you will put your faith and trust wholly and completely in Jesus, who entered behind the veil to sacrifice himself in your place for your sins, then you have the hope of eternal life as a sure and steady anchor, steadfast anchor.

No one can take that hope from you, because of the work of our Savior. Well, I trust you have that hope as an anchor for your soul today.

Our Father and our God, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ and for the anchor of our soul that he has established for us in your very presence, in giving of himself in our behalf.

We praise you for him, in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, listen, have a great rest of your