God, Our Anchor of Hope, Part 2

If you have your Bible turn me to Hebrews chapter 6 Hebrews chapter 6 is where we are today looking at God our anchor of Hope helping you to understand once again to see that Jesus Christ is the only hope for a lost world and We began looking at what the Bible said last week by looking at how the scriptures give us number one in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 the realization of hope The right of Hebrews is trying to help the people who are of the Beloved to understand the beauty of hope and so he calls him the Beloved and he calls him that because he is persuaded of Better things concerning them better than what? Better than the warning that was just given to those in the assembly who do not know Christ But yet they have been partakers of the Holy Spirit they have tasted the good word of the Lord They have tasted of the powers of the age to come and they've they've seen those things They've been around those things, but they have yet to embrace Christ as Messiah And so the right of Hebrews changes his tone It says I realize that you have hope because you have faith You have hope and you have love Based on the fact that you evidence true Christianity and then he says that God is not unjust so as to forget your name in other words I know That you know the Lord because you do what you do for his name's sake You don't do it for your name You don't do it for anybody else's that you do it for your for his name's sake And we told you last week that that becomes a becomes a hallmark for those who know Christ They live for his name not their name And so it all began in verse number nine with the realization of hope and then it moved to the exhortation to hope Where he says to those in the assembly who do not know the Lord and we desire that each one of you show the same Diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end don't be sluggish Don't be dull of hearing and we told you that same word used in chapter 5 verse number 11 that speaks of those that the prophet Isaiah did in Isaiah 6 those who were unwilling to respond to the Messiah and respond to his leadership And so he says we don't want you to be dull of hearing

We don't want you to be sluggish We don't want you to be numb to the things of God instead We want you to be zealous be quick Quick to come to the Messiah be diligent

He says To come to embrace the Messiah And then he says these words he says But imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promise look at those around you imitate them the people I just talked about the beloved who who are who are part of of a Relationship with the Living God imitate those people Mimic them look at them and and and look at their faith and look at their love and look at their hope and and come to Realize that these people truly are a part of the assembly mimic these people And that's always a great exhortation to remember because you know The Bible says that we are to imitate those who follow Christ Paul said follow me as I follow Christ, right? And so the right of Hebrews is exhorting those within the assembly Who do not know the Lord To be imitators of those who do know the Lord to mimic them to follow after them so he moves from from the realization of hope to the exhortation to hope to number three the illustration of hope So he's going to go from looking at those around about you in mimicking their faith to a better illustration And this is so rich and so deep and and so true and so amazing He says look, I'm gonna move you from those around you those who have who've embraced the Messiah I'm gonna move you to the great illustration of hope It is a supreme illustration of all hope in Scripture And we're gonna take you all the way back to your beginning We're gonna take you all the way back to father Abraham This is so rich

Listen to what he says

He says 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 and so having patiently waited he obtained the promise He moves them from the realization of hope to the exhortation to hope to the ultimate illustration of hope He goes look Remember Abraham because Abraham is the father of all those who believe Paul would use Abraham as an example Romans 4 James would use him in James chapter 2 He becomes the father of all those who ultimately Believe Why is this important? Because Abraham believed Before the Mosaic law ever came into existence Abraham believed and it was reckoned unto him as righteousness Before he was circumcised in all these Jews in the audience, they're thinking yeah, we got to keep the law man, the washing of hands or the laying out of hands and in the washings and all the all the Rituals that we do on a regular we got to do all that stuff, but we're not gonna get that And When you think about the illustration he uses it is so profound because today we have all these isms around us we have Catholicism and we have Mormonism and we have Buddhism and all the ISM on the end stands for is incapable of saving man Okay, and they are all incapable of saving man

Why because they're all works based And yet who's the father of the Jewish nation? Who's the father of our faith? But Abraham who couldn't keep the law because the law didn't exist yet But by faith he believed and it was reckoned unto him it was counted in him as righteousness So Abraham was righteous before the law could keep the law Abraham was righteous before Before he was circumcised So it wasn't the rituals that you go through that save you it goes way beyond that So whenever you talk to your your Catholic friends or your Mormon friends or whoever they may be who believe in a works-based system You got to take them all the way back to father Abraham Because that's where we're the beginning of the Jewish nation is remember Judaism is is the root in Christianity is the fruit Christianity is the fruit of Judaism which is the root you need to remember that I love it when when I've gone to Israel the past and I've talked to my friend Ezekiel I said, you know, I've always want you to remember that you were me before I was you He says, what do you mean? I said you were me before I was you He says what are you talking about? I said you were a Gentile before you were a Jew And me a Gentile and now a Jew So you were me before I was you Of course he gets really confused and so you do you take him all the way back to the very beginning to who the father the great patriarch Abraham Because he's the guy He's the man And so you take him all the way back to Abraham And if you go all the way back to Genesis chapter 11 Really 10 11 and 12 you begin to see How everything comes together for you because you remember as you as you read through Scripture everything is about the Messiah, right? Everything is about that redemptive thread that runs all throughout Scripture Remember every Abraham was in was in Ur of the Chaldees on the other side of the Euphrates River He was a Gentile

He was a pagan idol worshiper That's who Abraham was his name was Abram Exalted father, right? That was his name Abram exalted father And God one day spoke to Abraham and told him to go to a land in Hebrews and we when we get to Hebrews chapter 11, we'll talk about this But in Hebrews chapter 11, it says by faith Abraham when he was called obeyed by going out to a place Which he was to receive for an inheritance and he went out not knowing where he was going Now now who does that? Who goes to a place where they have no idea where they're going Who in their right mind would do that except except if God? Touches your heart and calls you You are compelled to go see And so Abram Was on the other side of Euphrates River

He was an idol worshiper You were me before I was you and When he crossed over the Euphrates which means the Hebrew word means to cross the river when he crossed over the river Now he's going to become the father of a Jewish nation His father Tara was from the line of Shem What I know is three sons remember that he had three sons Shem Ham and Japheth Why is that important Because Shem means Renown Name Why is that important Because the Messiah comes through the line of the renowned name You learn about that in Genesis chapter 10 remember that big old genealogy in Genesis chapter 10 the genealogy of Noah Goes through all these different names that nobody can pronounce a spell or where they're from or anything then it talks about Shem the line of the name Interestingly when you come to Genesis chapter 11, what are they building the Tower of Babel Babel however you want to pronounce it and why were they building that Because the text tells us that every man was involved because they wanted to make for themselves a name Nothing changes folks Everybody's into their own name, right? Remember these people are commended in Hebrews 11 because they do what they do for his namesake not for their namesake So you go all the way back to Genesis chapter 10 you hear about Shem Ham and Japheth And you realize that Shem's name means the line of the name and you go to Genesis chapter 11 and all sudden everybody's trying to Figure out how they can have a name But they have to embrace embrace the seed that comes from the line of the name So you realize in Genesis 11 that Tara who is the descendant of Shem His son, of course is Abraham And in Genesis chapter 12 Abrams called He's called And he's called to go to a land that he does have no idea where he's going That's faith, but it wasn't blind faith, right what is faith faith is living by the conviction of God's precepts It's trusting obedience

It's living in light of what God has already said

That's faith But I would ever speaks about blind faith Faith is always based on the authority of God's Word And so he heard the Word of the Lord God called him and he followed that that's faith he believed and So he followed the Word of the Lord In the Bible says upon following God and believing him it was counted unto him as righteousness And there was no law to keep law hadn't been given yet he's not circumcised till later in Genesis So that couldn't save him And yet all these Jews and Hebrews 11 were concerned about the fact that we have to keep all these Judaistic rituals all these things that we were raised on because if we don't do that, what were our family say about us? What will happen to us? Maybe we'll go through severe persecution

And and so do I really embrace this Messiah you're talking about? He says well Abraham did let me take you all the way back to Abraham I know you want to mimic these people in the in the assembly who who have faith hope and love and that's great And I've showed them to you and they're they're a part of the beloved But I want to take you all the way back to our roots how everything got started Because what did Abraham believe what did Abraham do he just obeyed just follow the Word of the Lord that's that's all he did and the following He received great great blessing He followed so well that even in Genesis 22 when he was to Raise a knife to his son Isaac he by faith believed and God commended him and that's where this phrase and Hebrews 11 is from When the writer says in Hebrews 11 Verse number 14. I will surely bless you and will surely multiply you Now remember In Genesis 17 before that God changes Abram's name From the exalted father to Abraham father of many nations Which is kind of ironic because Sarah Was barren Right remember that Abraham is 75 when he's called from her the Cowbees Sarah 65 They have no children and God says in Genesis chapter 12 that I will bless those who bless you. I will curse those who curse you He talks to him about a land

He's gonna go to because in that land

He's gonna make him a great nation But he has no children So he has to believe what God says Solely on the fact that God said it That's a novel idea, right? You just believe what God said because he says it And therefore Abraham followed him He served him and he honored him and Because of the promise of God because of the pledge of God and the patience of Abraham This becomes a supreme illustration for this Jewish people For it says these words when God made the promise to Abraham God made a promise to Abraham Now listen God could have chosen anybody else other than Abraham he cuz him chose any Gentile pagan idolater So, why did he choose Abraham I don't know That's God's choice Why did God choose Noah back in just chapter 6 when everybody on the earth only did that which is evil continually? Which included Noah by the way? Everybody was evil, but God decided to grace Noah Why I I don't know you just did God's gonna do what God wants to do whether you like it or whether you don't like God's in charge God just decided to grace Noah and his family and save those eight souls and killed everybody else Because the wages of sin is death But by the grace of God He chose Noah Why did he choose Abraham? God had a purpose got a plan What's that plan? He was gonna birth a nation a whole group of people That would become to the rest of the world The testimony to the saving grace of a loving God They would become the vehicle through which God would manifest himself to a lost world This was all part of God's plan So God chose Abram Changed his name to Abraham before he had any children through Sarah Because he would be the father of many nations based on what one thing a promise a promise that God made that Abraham believed He becomes the supreme illustration For the right of Hebrews Because all these Jewish people know a father Abraham They're all physical descendants of Abraham, right? And God made a promise and it questions

Did God fulfill the promise? Well, absolutely There's somewhere between 14 and 15 million Jews on the face of the earth today Abraham's the father of many nations father of many people But the spirits of the sense of Abraham go way beyond that see Because he's the father of all those who believe according to Romans chapter 4 So whether you're Jew or Gentile if you believe in the God of Abraham The God who called them from her the Chaldees in which he crossed over the great where you afraid is Afraid he's ended up on the land of Canaan Okay, for that was the promised land the specific land that God had chosen for his people Got a purpose Got a purpose just like it is when he chooses you and me God has a purpose Why did God choose you? I Had no answer that you see God didn't choose Abraham because he looks down and says hey, but look at Abraham

Look at that guy Oh He loves me No He didn't choose Abraham because he was obedient to his father No He didn't choose Abraham because his wife was barren No He didn't choose Abraham because he was he was a person who who lived according to a law that had not existed yet No Nothing, nothing about Abraham that caused God to choose him same thing about you Nothing about you God caused God to choose you nothing nothing There's nothing unique about you

There's nothing special about you that God says you are so special. I need you in my kingdom No, when God saves you he makes you special When God saves you he sets you apart for his purposes when God saves you he does something great in your life God never chooses because of you he chooses in spite of you

We need to understand that in the story that the right of Hebrews is trying to get across to this Jewish audience is that God just plucked Abraham out of her the Calvary's and brought him to this land Made him the father of many nations And he becomes the the the supreme Illustration of all that God does he made a promise And we know that God can't lie, right? God is true God is absolutely true God You can say that God invented the truth, but God is truth and truth has always existed because God's always existed

God is true So everything that God says is true God cannot lie That's why he has a unchangeable purpose That's why he's got this fabulous promise Because God doesn't change his mind God cannot lie He is the God of absolute truth that's why when when Back in in John chapter 18 when Jesus was before Pilate and they were having this conversation Jesus said you say correctly that I am a king for I have been born For this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to testify To the truth. I've come to testify to the truth the truth about what truth about God because he's gone Truth about life because he's life The truth about truth because he is the truth The truth about sin and man separated from God The the truth about Satan and His operations I've come to testify to the truth about judgment I've come to testify the truth because I am the truth and then he says those words

He says everyone who was of the truth Here's my voice Everyone who's of the truth Here's my voice because they align themselves with truth and Pilate says what is truth? See nothing changes, right? Same old question It's been going on for over 2,000 years since the beginning of time What is truth? You have your truth. I have my truth Everybody had got their own truth No, no, no, no, no, no one truth

It's God's truth And so he came to testify to the truth So God makes his promise to Abraham based on who he is his character that he is the God of truth and so the right of Hebrews wants you people to understand that the God that we serve the God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob is the Supreme God of the universe who always speaks the truth and he made a promise to Abraham way way way back When he was a Gentile before the Jewish nation was ever born Across the river comes a Hebrew across the river what it means And through him there comes a great nation And God chose him for a purpose Because he was going to be a father of all those who would ultimately believe in the Messiah that I'm talking to you about This is so profound This is so unique You try to try to explain this to to a Jewish person and they're like they're like flabbergasted because they're so into their isms They're so into their rituals

They're so into the things they have to do to to somehow maintain favor with with God, but Abraham didn't he's the father of the faith So the right of Hebrews is is moving them in this in this direction And so God makes makes a promise to Abraham And God by his own divine choice Chose him And God, you know what God made a covenant with Abraham God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham Way back in Genesis chapter 15 got your Bible turn back to Genesis 15 for a second Genesis chapter 15 Genesis 14 is about Abraham paying tithes to Melchizedek By the way, that's next week's sermon

Who is Melchizedek? We'll talk to you about that next week and hopefully we'll confuse you all the more but God makes his promise to Abraham and tells him do not fear. I am a shield. I am your very great reward chapter 15 verse number 1 and it says He God took him outside and said now look towards the face of the Lord. I am your great reward I'm your great reward And God said look at the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them which he cannot He said to him so shall your descendants be Wow These are gonna be your descendants abraham Now remember He is childless And so he has to take everything by faith because what does he have Sarah's getting up in years

He's getting up in years and yet God says look at the stars but so shall your descendants be says verse 6, then he believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness how beautiful is that? he said to him I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it, why? remember Deuteronomy 7? why did God choose Israel? just because I love you why do you love them? I just choose to, that's it, I just choose to love you no other reason, not because you're mighty, not because you're strong not because you're good-looking, not because you're rich, none of this stuff none of that matters, I chose you just because I chose chose to love you that's why I favored you, I just chose to grace you, I just chose to this is my divine choice, my predetermined plan, it's mine and so God says to him, reminds him, I brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land and possess it, he said oh Lord God how may I know I shall possess it? how should I know this is gonna be my land? now God could have said simply because I said so and that would have been suffices or not, but God didn't do that God did something very unique, he says verse 9, so he said to him bring me a three-year-old heifer and a three-year-old female goat a three-year-old ram and a turtle dove and a young pigeon then he brought all these to him and cut them in two and laid each half opposite the other but he did not cut the birds well of course he didn't cut the birds, they're not big enough to cut and all the feathers would fly away anyway, right? so he cuts the heifer he cuts the goat, he cuts them up and puts one on one side and one on the other, why? because when you were to ratify a covenant, a covenant was always ratified with blood, okay, when you ratify the covenant you would take these animals you would cut them and that the two parties making a covenant would walk between the animals and as they walked between them they would make this covenant that would be an unbreakable covenant between the two, if they violated the covenant Jeremiah 34 comes into play and they would be killed, okay so God is doing for Abraham what was a common practice of the day so Abraham knows to cut the animals he puts one on either side that's what they do put one bird one way one bird the other way and then text says in verse number 11 the birds of prey came down upon the carcasses and Abraham drove them away you know he's trying to keep all the birds away from the carcasses, right? and God's not doing anything yet God hasn't said anything yet and so Abraham's trying to keep everything you know above board and so when the animals come down they want to eat the fleshy he shoots them all away well then it says in verse number 12 now when the sun was going down a deep sleep fell upon Abraham and behold terror and great darkness fell upon him and God said to Abraham know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs okay that's Canaan where they will be enslaved and oppressed 400 years that's Egypt now this is so good God is telling Abraham there's going to be a an Egyptian bondage for 400 years now the nation hasn't even disobeyed God yet but they're going to disobey him and they're going to be in that bondage for 400 years but I would also judge the nation whom they will serve that's that's Egypt and afterward they will come out with many possessions and they did as for you you shall go to your fathers in peace you will be buried at a good old age so God's making his promise to Abraham that in the fourth generation they will return here for the iniquity the Amorite is not yet complete it came about when the sun had set that was very dark behold there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying to your descendants I will give this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the river Euphrates okay so God is making his covenant Abraham but in order for the covenant to be ratified there had to be blood but Abraham but God made the Abraham with made the covenant with Abraham an unconditional covenant because it wasn't conditioned upon Abraham's obedience that's why God is represented by the torch right the flame and this and the smoking oven why because later on he's going to lead them out of Egypt by a smoking oven a cloud by day and a fire by night and so everything is written for a purpose and so God makes a covenant with himself that's ratified by blood that he is going to multiply the descendants of Abraham and it's not conditioned upon Abraham's obedience it's not conditioned upon Israel's obedience it is an unconditional covenant that God made why is that important you know if you've been to Israel that they have the the holy holocaust memorial there it's called Yad Vashem and back in the year 2001 when I was with our guide there in Israel and we happened to go to Yad Vashem I asked him I said do you know what this memorial is he says yeah it's a memorial to all the names of those who who died in the holocaust I said well that's quite ironic because Yad Vashem is in the singular not the plural so how could it be a memorial to the names is if it's a memorial to the name I said could it be that could it be that in your inventing this memorial it's a testimony to really the name of the great god of Abraham Isaac and Jacob the name that promises that no matter how many Haman's Herod's and Hitler's there are the nation will continue because God made a promise to Abraham an unconditional promise and he scratched his head thought for a moment and he said well that that could be I said no not that it could be it is it is true that's what God said and I believe that and when God's making this covenant with Abraham or covenant with himself to Abraham unconditional covenant he says that your descendants I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river the river Euphrates river that Abraham had to cross over to come to the land of Canaan by the way which is in the the plan that President Trump gave to Netanyahu you know that right that Israel is to expand its borders according to the book of Deuteronomy well think about that there are over 33 different times in the Old Testament where God gives the board to the land of Israel borders the land of Israel and President Trump has said to Netanyahu you need to do this now it's in the peace treaty to expand your borders to that which is in the book of Deuteronomy well nothing that nothing's new that's just the way God designed it see so God makes this unconditional promise to Abraham this is the great illustration of hope because he went out believing not knowing where he was going he he was told that he would be a father of many of many nations but he had no son he had no seed nothing and you know the whole interval with Hagar and Ishmael and all that came about and that was a problem in and of itself and in Genesis chapter 18 God comes and says a year from now a year from now you will have a son that means it's 12 months from now right a year from now you'll have a son 12 months from now Sarah's 90 or 89 yeah and Abraham's 99 okay so it says a year from now you're going to have a son and Sarah laughed because she was so old but Abraham believed Abraham believed because he actually took hold of what God said see that's the problem with you and me today we just don't believe what God says we always want to make excuses well yeah is that really what he said I'm not sure that's what that's what he meant by what he said no he means exactly what he says he said what he says and and so we have to be able to take it at face value believe it hold on to it and adhere to everything that God says so you have this realization of hope that the beloved had in the assembly who really truly were more than just professors they were possessors of the messiah so he exhorts them who are not possessors but professors or even protesters to the messiah to with diligence make haste to come because look at those around you have already come and look at what they believe in they've they've embraced the messiah you need to do this but but let me give you one more ironclad example beyond the people that are in your assembly let's go all the way back to the very beginning let's go all the way back to Abraham the father of our nation look at him he says very simply in hebrews chapter six he says when God made the promise to Abraham since he could swear by no one greater that greater he swore by himself saying I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you and so having patiently waited he obtained the promise how long did Abraham patiently wait 25 years 25 years before the birth of Isaac and then after Isaac was born God says go kill him on top of Mount Moriah and what did Abraham do Abraham obeyed because he was 11 says he believed in the God who could raise the dead so God told me this was going to happen took 25 years it did happen exactly as he said and now he wants me to kill him so if he wants to kill him he's got another plan what the plan is i'm not sure what that is so i'll do what God says simply because God said it he becomes a great illustration of hope supreme illustration of hope he took God's word at face value just because God made a promise and God made this unconditional covenant with Abraham that's why he put Abraham to sleep and he passed through himself making a covenant with himself because it wasn't dependent upon Abraham it was solely dependent upon God and his word oh by the way so is your salvation it's an unconditional covenant that God makes with you your salvation is not conditional upon whether you will sin or not sin your eternal security is conditioned on God and God's word alone it's God who keeps you it's God who made the promise it's God who has the power God does that and that's just so rich and so true and so pure and just so great to hold on to as we understand the beauty of what God is doing you know so before you know as as God had a purpose for Abraham he's got a purpose for you and me as well when God saves you like I told you before why did God choose you I have no idea none of you in the room none of us in the room were chosen because of anything that we did it was God's predetermined our names were written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world think about that those who are saved their name is written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the world before the world was ever created God had a book a book of life and the names of all those who would believe are in that book every one of them simply because that was God's plan and so the Bible says these words in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3 blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us according or blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world so that we should be holy and blameless before him God chose you before the foundation of the world he chose you that you would be holy and blameless before him set apart and completely clean before him was God's choice and Paul says in Romans chapter 8 for whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of a son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren in whom he predestined these he also called those whom he called these he also justified in whom he justified these he also glorified in other words God says this way it's going to be you are predetermined eternity to pass I called you when did God call you that's when eternity intersects with time the calling of God the the irreplaceable irrevocable call of God like when he called Abraham he called him and those that God has called he is he's justified he's declared right and those that he's justified you'll three one day will glorify he'll stand in his presence simply because that's his plan that's his purpose based on his promise it's an unconditional covenant that he makes with those he saves that's just a great thing and so here you have this right of Hebrews trying to show this Jewish audience hey man this is what it's all about you gotta look at father Abraham so he moves from the realization of hope to the exhortation to hope to the supreme illustration of hope to the verification of hope God verified everything with his word it says in verse number 13 since he could swear by no one greater he swore by himself that's the custom of man God could swear by no one greater so he swore by himself you see it was a custom of man to swear by something greater than them so they would swear by the temple they would swear on the altar they would swear according to the high priest and they would even swear unto God and once they would make that swear that oath that would end all disputes because they swore to something greater than themselves okay now Christ will go on to say in Matthew 5 that you don't do that because your word should be true based on the fact that you said it you shouldn't have to swear to God you should just say yes that's true because your word is true because I'm the God of truth but but God in his graciousness and God in his his his sovereignty and and God knowing the hearts of man would would allow himself to be able to accustom the need of man and swear by himself didn't have to do that because what he says is true but because he could swear to no one greater than himself he swore to himself because he's the greatest of all and so the writer of Hebrews goes on to say in uh verse number 17 or 16 for for for men swear by one greater than themselves and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute so when they make the that that oath the the dispute's over I I swear by the temple on the temple mount okay it disputes over I swear on my mother's grave someone greater than you okay the dispute's over all right but then he says in the same way God desiring even more to show to the heirs the promise the unchangeableness of his purpose interposed with an oath he made an oath by himself to himself because he is the greatest and he would do this so you would understand that his promise is secure and true and would never change this is the verification of hope you know God made a pledge to you and me a pledge is in the form of the Holy Spirit right he is the the down payment of our inheritance God didn't have to do that but he did God could have said you know I've saved you and and you're saved forever don't worry about a thing it's okay no he gave us a a down payment he gave us always spirit which Bible says is the pledge the oath of our inheritance this is the guarantee that all the inheritance that God gives you is true I'm going to give you my spirit that's just so good that's what God does because God wants to trust him into and to believe in him and he says these words he says set by two unchangeable things what are the two unchangeable things his word and his oath his promise and his pledge in which is impossible for God to lie God can't maybe lie no he just never lies he can't lie he's truth that's why he didn't lie always speaks the truth it's impossible for him to lie we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement whoa whoa taking refuge what do you mean by taking refuge remember the studies of refuge in the old testament uh book of numbers talks about them book of the army talks about them that when you when you killed someone accidentally and those who wanted to seek revenge on you you would flee to a city of refuge and there you'd find protection Christ is like that city of refuge that when you go there there's nothing but protection that's there that's what you receive that's that's what you what you have so by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope that's set before us what's the hope the hope is Christ the hope is the gospel the hope is all the promises that God has given living in anticipation of every one of them that's what Abraham did he lived in anticipation of the promises and then impatiently waited he obtained the promise the seed his son now did he receive all the promises no he was 11 when we get there we'll show you that there are so many other things that they did not receive but but they lived in anticipation of the of the great city whose maker and architect is God himself they lived by those those promises then you move to the consolation of hope it says verse 19 this hope we have as an anchor of the soul a hope most sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek this this Jesus who is our hope is the anchor for our soul now this is very important it's a word play word play based off of Hebrew chapter two because if you go back to Hebrew chapter two it says in verse one for this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we what we have heard so that we do not drift away from from it remember that we told you this was a nautical term where we're boats would come in the dock and that they weren't careful they missed the the opening to the dock they would drift right on by and and the right of Hebrews gives his first warning don't let the gospel drift on by the get a hold of what is true that how should we escape if we neglect so great a salvation don't just drift on by the opportunity seize the opportunity now you go back to Hebrews chapter six and this is good man you go back to Hebrews chapter six he's now we got an anchor that that sets itself down that keeps us from drifting away where's that anchor it's it's within the veil now the all every Jew knows that means it was the holy of holies the very presence of almighty God and the high priest is the one who could go in there only only once a year right and he had to go in there with a rope tied to his foot because if he died while he was in there you had to drag him back out again because you couldn't go in there unless you die well we are tied to him he is the anchor of our soul he takes us into the holy of holies with himself he takes us into the very presence of God and that is a sure steadfast assurance that God himself is going to bring us into the presence of the living God this is such a beautiful analogy to help us understand how it is God works you have an anchor who is Christ the living God and because that anchor you have access to the holy of holies which gives you all the assurance that you need you got to come to Christ now make every effort to come speedily don't become dull of hearing don't wait do it now you see those around you who've already come to Christ you've seen their enthusiasm you've seen their lifestyle you've seen their faith their hope their love you know that they do everything they do for God's name sake but just put them aside for a second go all the way back to to to Abraham to the very beginning because he's the father of our faith and before the law was ever in existence before he's ever circumcised he believed it was reckoned to him as righteousness he becomes the father of our faith he is the quintessential believer in the old testament amen so you have to understand that because there are people today i came from a church before we started this church i was at a church who that that taught that people in the old testament were saved differently than people in the new testament did you know that the elders believed at my previous church that the people in the old testament were saved by keeping the law and the people in new testament saved by grace i was like where'd you get that from what about abraham they didn't keep the law we can do with him he's the father of our faith how does that reconcile how do you reconcile that and they couldn't reconcile but that's what they believed but a lot of people believe that the old testament saints were saved differently than new testament saints no they're all saved the same way by grace through faith in the messiah of israel very simple it's not hard because god doesn't change the way of salvation it's always been the same so the writer of hebrews says see this so there's this verification he made his promise this oath to himself because he gets where by no one greater and because of those two unchangeable things his promise and his pledge based on who he is a person he made this oath and now you have a sure steadfast ironclad assurance all you have to do is come to the messiah that's all you gotta do embrace him because you see he is the high priest forever after the order of melchizedek in chapter five verse number nine he said you know i want to tell you more about melchizedek but i can't yet because i got to give you a warning and after i give you a warning i want to show you about those who have hope and once i show you those who have hope based on the great father abraham who was the ultimate hope guy i'll go back to melchizedek and that's next week who is melchizedek and what difference does it make in the storyline of the book of hebrews so good let's pray father thank you for today thank you for the the opportunity you give us to be in your word what a joy what a joy to study god's word what a joy to be able to hear the truth and be able to understand what you did with abraham what you did with isaac what you did with the jewish nation how you made a covenant that was unconditional with that man that lord you have made a promise to us that's unconditional space totally upon you the finished work of christ on calvary's cross and for that we are grateful and we thank you in jesus precious name amen