To be here, we just sang this. Till on the cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. Amen. On him was laid. And Christ died for you and for me. Those are powerful words. Thank you, church, for singing. Thank you for the opportunity to open God's word. If you will physically open to Hebrews 6, it will help us help you, I hope, to put our eyes on this text. Hebrews 6, starting verse 13. As you do, I want to thank you all for praying for my mother, for myself, and my wife as with texts and cards and volunteerisms and many different ways that the church has loved us. So thank you all for loving us. There's still some decisions that we have to make going forth. She's not quite back, but God is sovereign over all things and we are resting in him. So thank you for that. Let me pray as we get started. Lord, we bow before the exalted Christ, the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. Lord, for your namesake, you blotted out our transgressions. For your namesake, you led us and lead us to paths of righteousness. For your namesake, you have delivered us. So Lord, with humility this morning, I ask for your namesake, would you be pleased to meet with us? Would you enlighten our hearts, give us strength, convict us, move us, mold us, that we may love Jesus more, and that the word of God would be precious? So I ask that you will take these broken words from a broken man and glorify the Savior. In your name we pray, amen. So we're in Hebrews 6, part two of this passage, talking about hope and encouragement today. So you've heard the slogan that less is more. Less salt, less screen time, less technology, less standing in line at the DMV. And even a new one I haven't heard, a phrase called less is the new more. I don't know what that means. Socrates even weighed in on this and he said, the secret to happiness, you see, is not found in more, but it's in developing the capacity to enjoy less. So this morning, I ask you, what about less, less encouragement? Is God a God of less encouragement? I have a solid Christian friend who genuinely struggles with sermons that highlight the love of God because of the sea of churches that have taught incorrectly on the love of God. And so, that's hard for him to hear that way. We also know the high calling of an authentic Christian. It's a high calling. Passages like, take up your cross and die to self. And our flesh can bow up against these things and these might feel counter encouragement. a.k.a. disencouragement. Well, again, I ask you, is God a God of less encouragement? Well, the end of Hebrews 6 here just reverberates, it crescendos. In the football terminology, God would get a penalty for piling on encouragement after encouragement. and I hope we see that today, and he does this in a very unusual way in our text. So as we unpack this, we'll look at hope from three perspectives. The first is, how is the character of God establish hope? So how does the character of God establish hope? Second is, how is trusting in God, we just sang that song, how is trusting in God strengthen our hope, and lastly, our anchor to God secures our hope. So just to get us the context, remember back in chapter six of Hebrews, we looked at verses nine through 12, but remember the first part of Hebrews six deals with some pretty harsh terminology. We're talking about apostasy. This is strong language regarding those who have fallen away And ultimately, they're cursed, and this is hard. I hope this language spurs us to the gospel, spurs us to go to that person that may be headed that way, call them back to Christ. So then in verse nine, this chapter really changes. The whole focus changes on this word, as I highlighted before, beloved. Verse nine, beloved. If you are in Christ, celebrate that word. You are beloved. And then there's this really interesting phrase that we talked about. It says, things that are better with salvation. And you all had homework to do. I've not gotten many papers back on this homework, but you had homework. You were supposed to fill out things that are better with salvation and share them to one another. And why do we do this? Why is this kind of a point of emphasis? Well, Mike preached two weeks ago from Peter, right? And he said, we need to help each other do what? Remember. So this is what we're doing. We're helping each other remember. So all these things fit together coming up to our passage today. So things that are better with salvation, it stirs in my heart, in your heart, our hope is full. And then in verse 12, it says, then we can be imitators. then we're imitators. And so that's where we come today. So outline point number one, character of God establishes hope. So this passage starts with Abraham. But with all the aspects in this passage, and there are many, don't lose sight that the entire passage is about God. It's about God. It's about His character. God is the central figure that drives this passage. Abraham is the example. We receive the blessing at the end of the passage, and we'll get there, but God is this. And so this is a good principle. As you read your own scriptures on your own, ask the question, what do I see in this about God? What do I see about God? So I see three things, three attributes of God, and these will be brief. The first one I see is grace. So at the end of verse 12, right before this passage, the author talks about this full assurance of hope and these better things with salvation. And so you might expect him to go to another topic. Like I've completed that, I'm going on to another topic, but here is God with grace upon grace. See this passage just strikes me and I hope I can communicate this well. but it's striking to me the weight of the elements in this passage, the weight of the argument being given in relation to what he drives us towards. Okay, so what do I mean by that? There's so much in this passage. There's Abraham, there's attributes of God, there's the name of God, there's oaths of God, there's this imagery of an anchor, all driving us to what? What is this driving us to? Well, let me piece together, that's why, so look at your text right now. I'm gonna piece together some phrases that has helped me, maybe it'll help you answer this question. So in verse 17, here we go. So when God desired, so what did God desire? I'm asking the question, what did God desire here that we know about himself and that we know about us? So God has a desire here. To whom? Well, it tells us, to the heirs of the promise, and we'll come back to that. So what is his desire here? He desires that the unchangeable character of his purpose be seen. Why? Why do we need to know his unchangeable character of his purpose? We're gonna get to the how later. The how does he make this argument is just massive, but what's the why? What's the why here? Well, the why is down in 18B. So jump down there. We who have fled for refuge, see that, might have strong encouragement. We might have strong encouragement. Why does Eric, why do you need strong encouragement? To hold fast to the hope that's set before us. That's it. That's what this passage is driving us to. And the weight of it just is amazing to me. So stepping back, how much encouragement does God want me to feel? It's almost like he takes this megaphone and he makes this massive argument with oaths and his own name and said, I love you this much. I want you to have strong encouragement and have hope. So hopefully today we'll see his character and we'll get a sense for the strong encouragement. I need to see God's character. I absolutely need to see his character. This really humbles me and here's why. Psalm 8 verse 4 says, what is man that you are mindful of him? He brings me into the conversation with his own name. That's humbling. So this is grace upon grace. That was the first attribute. The second attribute is truth. So we all know the phrase that God is truth. So what does that mean when we say God is truth? That's the second word, second attribute. So all truth, if you think of it, all truth in the macro, he is all truth. But also he is only truth. Right? He is only truth. He's all truth, but he's only truth. And we get that from verse 18 where it says, it is impossible for God to lie. So all truth and only truth reside in him. God does not have an open and a closed valve switch. You guys who do handyman things, you know, valves open, they close. God is not that way. He doesn't lie or not lie. There's not a valve. Eric does. You do. We have this valve switch, lie not lie. God doesn't, God never lies. So when God made this promise to Abraham, Abraham believed he was telling the truth. So when God makes a promise, there's not a toggle switch. The promise will be kept. John MacArthur says this, not only will he keep his promises, he must keep his promises. Do you believe that? Do I believe that he must and will keep his promises? Titus 1, 2 says, God cannot lie. Four small words. God cannot lie. 12 letters. Let's pause and think of the weight of that just for a minute. Remove one of those words. God can lie. Wow. All of Christianity just crumbled right there. All of it. God can lie. For those of you who are parents and you had small children, or maybe this was yesterday for some of you, remember the days when you hear this crash outside and some chaos ensued and the kids come running in and they come forth dizzying and there's varying arguments and varying causes and effects, all so that the wrath does not fall upon them? Consciously or unconsciously, what do you think? Is someone lying? I did. Is someone lying? Our society sadly has moved from prior generations where our word meant something and can be trusted. And now our word is no longer a bond. And so is it any surprise that in my home, in my Christian life, in my view of God, I'm so built in with doubting. Words aren't valuable, words aren't held. How can that not shape my view of God? Imagine reading scriptures. Imagine the Old Testament, reading the New Testament. Did God lie about the resurrection? Did he lie about his second coming? Did he lie about the purpose of my life? Did he lie about sin, doubts and wonderments just abound? Sadly, this is commonplace today, is it not, where man is looking into God with skepticism. In a way, in a very twisted way, our culture has taken that Psalm 8 verse that I just said and scoffs and says, what is God that I am mindful of Him? What is God that I am mindful of Him? That should give us a bit of chills. when we look at God that way. But every promise of God, man seems to be squeezing in his vice grips. But if you're a believer, rejoice, greatly rejoice. We will never, three nevers, we will never, never, never have to ask the question, did God lie about that promise? We never, we never have to do that. And how practical is this? Back to the Titus 1, 2 verse. So Paul is trying to help his friend Titus and he says this, the hope of eternal life, which God, comma, who cannot lie, comma, promised before the ages began. So Paul is trying to encourage his friend Titus and he brings in hope. He brings in the promises of God and this phrase that God cannot lie. So see how they're wrapped together. Hope, the promises of God, and that God cannot lie. So that's attribute number two. The third is very brief. It's the unchangeableness of God. We sometimes say the immutability of God. So that's in verse 17 and 18. Another good definition of this is that without variance. So there's no variance in God. The Greek word here, if you trace it back, has ties to legal documents. So legal documents cannot be changed. done. So the two unchangeable things here in our text are, and we've talked about them already, that his promises don't change and his oath. Promises and oath. So God does not change. He's not blown to and fro like you and I are. Otherwise, we would have no hope. For those of you who like studying these things, I would refer you to Puritan Stephen Charnock in the 1600s, wrote a 43-page, imagine, 43-page discourse on the immutability of God. That's how important this is. And I think we have it next door. So these three attributes, grace, truth, his unchangeableness, all of these lay this foundation for our hope because of his character. Outline point number two. Trusting in God strengthens my hope. Okay, so how is my hope strengthened? That's what we're trying to think about now. So why was Abraham the example given here? Why was Abraham the example given here? Well, in Hebrews 11, which is the chapter about faith, we know that, right? This chapter has an interesting phrase that's repeated three times. And here's the phrase, things not yet seen. It's right there in verse 1. You're familiar with that, things not yet seen. This was Abraham, was it not? So see, God called Abraham to trust his word. So there's that idea again, trust God's Word for things not yet seen. And the Lord did this in Genesis 22. He swore an oath. He made a promise, and we see that here in verse 14. Surely I will bless you and I will multiply you. So how did Abraham respond? What is Abraham's overarching heart characteristic to this that he's been given. Does he bow? Does he argue? Does he kick back? What's the text say? Verse 15, Abraham patiently waited upon the promises. What a great biblical attribute, patiently waiting on the promises of God. So let me pause and say how is our patiently waiting going? Abraham didn't ask to go to Canaan. There wasn't a sign-up sheet in the market square that says, who wants to sojourn for the rest of your life and never get to see the fulfillment? Yet he waitedly patient for things not seen. See, God had a plan. For Abraham, he has a plan for you and I. Abraham was asked to trust God. You and I are asked to trust God. See, trust is this huge word. Trust is this life-building principle. Our homes are built on trust. Our churches are built on trust. Our families are built on trust. So that's why I'm emphasizing we take these characteristics of God And they become so practical, why? Why are they so practical? Because then we see God as can be trusted and forever can be trusted. John MacArthur says this, everything about God is trustworthy because of who he is, perfection in his being. Everything about God is trustworthy because he is perfection. So in your everyday life of hope, if our hope is weak, maybe we need to look upstream. Maybe we need to look, is there something in my view of God, in my misunderstanding of God, in my wrong thinking of God that has shaped my lack of hope? Maybe I'm looking at the wrong thing. I'm looking at my circumstances and saying, wow, this just doesn't fill me with hope. And I get down. Maybe you do too. Let's look upstream. Let's look upstream. Scripture over and over and over and declares trust in the Lord with what? A third of your heart? All of your heart. So God can be trusted in the past. He can be trusted in the present. And praise God, he can be trusted in the future. Jeremiah 17, 7, blessed is he who trusts in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord. So Jeremiah combines, again, trust and hope. Proverbs 29, 25, the fear of man will be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe. So the proverb there is combining trust with being kept safe in the Lord. So these so tie together. So how did Abraham demonstrate this trust? I mean, Abraham was confronted with some major adversity, was he not? John MacArthur says this, Abraham went so far as to raise the knife to slay the very son who alone would fulfill the promise. That's some great trust. So application point here as I pause, are there circumstances in your life, things not yet seen, that you and I might be struggling to trust? That you and I might be struggling in our hope? That you and I might need encouragement in? Maybe we don't see the end like Abraham, But that's exactly what this text is about. Do we get that? That's exactly what this text is about. Else, why is the language, strong encouragement coming, which we'll see in a minute, coming in verse 18? See, sometimes I don't see very clearly. I see things in a haze. Maybe you're that way too. So what do we do? What do we do when things are hazy and I don't see clearly? Well, what can we see? What can we see that is clear? Well, we can see Jesus' full obedience to death on the cross very clearly. He perfectly obeyed the Father. Amen? We can see God at work in others around us who are trusting, who are walking by faith, who are hoping. We see that. I hope we are. Do we hear that? Praise God, so-and-so is trusting in a hard place. Louis Pappas. Chris French, praise God, they're trusting in a hard place. So what is God asking you to trust him in today? What is he asking you to wait patiently upon him? I came across this phrase and it really hit me. I really need to meditate on this. I don't know where, where the source was, but it said this, we cannot see the full consequences of trusted obedience. We can't see the full consequences of trusted obedience. Sometimes we think of that phrase in the negative of sin, but let's think of about in the positive trusted obedience. I can't see praise God for what he can do. It's a God-glorifying act when I take trust in myself, and I move it where? I move it to the Lord. That is exalting our Savior. We're saying, I can't, I won't, I'm tired of it, and I need to trust in the Lord. So the gospel is this, every promise that God has made, he puts his name to it. and it will deepen our hope and strengthen our faith. All right, outline point number three as we keep moving. This one is our anchor to God secures our hope. Our anchor to God secures our hope. There is one person whose greatness and worth is more than all others combined. There's only one person, and that's God himself. God is the greatest value in this universe. There is nothing more greater, more valuable, more glorious, more worthy than God himself. For that alone, he is worthy to be praised. Just for that alone, he is worthy to be praised. Try to think, try to right now think or shape or composite anything that is more worthy. It can't be done. If it is, if you have a, oh, I got it, you've missed the mark. You've missed the mark, because there's nothing outside that is greater. So in verse 17, so when God desires to take this oath, what is higher? What is higher? If God could have gone higher, he would have gone higher. And then this whole chapter is rewritten, and then all of scripture is rewritten, and it all crumbles. But sadly, that there are people and churches who have not resolved this issue. Is God of the greatest worth? Is he of the greatest value? And that's kind of convicting to me. Does Eric's life live out that God is the greatest value? Our lives echo something. They really, really do. So it's hard to read this that that God has taken an oath on his own name for my encouragement, and I struggle in sort of a blasphemic way, if that's a word, and I can struggle to live this out. So what is God doing when he swears on himself? Well, it goes back to this idea of promise, right? So what is he saying? He's saying that it is impossible for God, who will ever break a promise, or ever break his word. It's impossible for him to do that. He can't be done. And that should give us what? A little hope? Great hope. That should give us great hope. See, God can never corrupt himself. He can never be corrupted. He can never be tainted. He can never violate himself or be violated or be cornered or outwitted or any of that. It'll never happen. See, none of us would actually believe, no one's going to come up and say, like, Eric, well, I really think God can be violated. I really think he can be corrupted. Nobody's going to ever say that. But yet, is there a couple promises in Scripture that we have doubts about, that we really privately struggle? Like this promise, I see it. But if you ask my heart, my heart really has doubts about this particular promise. Let's be honest. Well, what I want to take away from today is this, that this passage is a direct frontline attack against that doubt. Name your doubt. Struggle with your doubt. Grip your doubt. And read this passage and see if God does not say, I am bigger than that doubt. My promises will never fail on whatever your doubt is. That's the gospel. That's our God. One of our daughters has a close friend. She's an international friend, and she was defrauded a huge amount of money by someone who posed to be something else. someone who made promises about something. They strung her along, they sucked her for money, and at the end they left her abandoned, embarrassed, swindled. God will never do that. He'll never do that. He's never gonna string us along and then abandon us. Praise God. I think of that young girl and it just grips me. just grips me, and what a spiritual analogy. So at this point you might ask yourself, well why did God even need to swear an oath, right? Why does he even need to swear an oath here? Well, men swear oaths because our word is what? Not trustworthy. I remember as a young kid on the playground, maybe you did too, I remember the countless times that I swear on two things, my favorite comic book and my Johnny Bench baseball card. Anybody ever do that? I did it so many times. And for me, when someone brought a baseball card into the oath, it was done. I mean, I was done. I believed them, it didn't matter. Because baseball cards were what? My highest worth. There was nothing more valuable than a baseball card when I was growing up. Does God need to swear an oath on his own name? He doesn't need to do that. So why does he do that? Why does God even take this oath? We know that his oath and his word is more binding than any intended oath. His word itself is more binding than any intended oath. So what's this oath for? Well, it's to accommodate us. plain and simple, is to accommodate us who are weak in faith. And in this context, we can hope, right? Because that's where this is driving to. We are weak in hope. So he accommodates us. That's why I say the magnitude of his argument here for little me is astounding. Really, really is. I'm so humbled. I'm so thankful for this passage. What a marvelous example that God condescends to humans. He did this on the cross, did he not? He condescended, ultimately died for us. And he does it again here in this passage, not like as a bully to show off, like, look at me. I'm putting my name in the game here. All the other baseball cards are poof. It's so to leave us, to help us with these doubts, and it shows His pure love and His pure mercy. It's just so magnified here. I hope you see that here. John Calvin writes this, wonderfully written. He says, see how kindly God, as our gracious Father, accommodates himself to our slowness to believe. Gracious Father accommodating himself to our slowness to believe as he knows that we rest not on his simple word. I struggle to rest on his simple word so God accommodates himself out of grace upon grace upon grace. And yet The passage doesn't end here. This really should be enough for Eric, but the passage goes on more. I just love this. Verse 19 brings in this idea of an anchor. So I looked up, how is anchor used in scriptures? This is the only place in all of scripture that I could find that an anchor is a metaphor. In Acts, there are other places that anchor is an anchor. It's like, wow, thank you God, this image of an anchor unique to Hebrews. So anchors, how are anchors typically helpful? Well, they're helpful when they're not seen. An anchor on top of a boat is not anchoring. It's not causing steadiness. It's not causing surety. An anchor when cast deep steadies. So, I ask you another hard question. What is the anchor of your life? What is the anchor of your life? What is cast and what is cast deep? What anchor? The Gallup poll indicates that nearly Record high fears of personal safety are right now. Record high fears of personal safety. The NIH reports anxiety among 18 to 25-year-olds have doubled in recent years. Anxiety among young people, they're outrageously high. So where do people go to cope? Where are they anchoring? Well, I found an article, University of Wisconsin, that listed common spiritual anchors. So this idea of spiritual anchor is not just a biblical word. This is in the world of philosophy. It's in the world of religion, this spiritual anchor. Listen to these common spiritual anchors and ask this question, how deep are these cast? A piece of artwork, a picture of a loved one, a physical location or place, a song or a mantra, special breathing, a special body position. My kids laugh at me. I only have two body position, ridge and rigidder. That one's not gonna help me. Did you hear? These are spiritual anchors that are documented by the University of Wisconsin. This is an eclectic mess, is it not? Is there any surprise that our world is in chaos with hope? But look in verse 19, so where does the Christian go? The Christian hope is sure, it's a hope that is anchored where? In the inner place behind the curtain. Let that sink in on you for a minute. Our anchor is here. I don't really know how to explain this. I have fought for weeks. It's hard for me to get my head around this, that my anchor is in Washington. where God is, in the Holy of Holies. It's not in Jerusalem. It's not in this church. It's not in a program. It's not in a people group. It's not in a book. It's not in anything. My anchor is in the Holy of Holies, where Jesus is. Our great high priest, our forerunner, it says, where you and I could never, ever go. That's where this image of an anchor is. And what did Jesus do? What is he doing? He's not like the other high priests who took a sacrifice, took an offering, and what did they do? They left. What did Jesus do? Hebrews 1 says he did what? He sat down. He sat down. That reality, my friend, should just be magnificent to us, the reality that Jesus sat down. John MacArthur says, our anchor is the embodiment of Jesus. Our anchor is the embodiment of Jesus. So, in the context of our text, how does this effectively How does this effectively accomplish anything? Okay, so let me pull these ideas together. So I have, I need hope for today. Every day we need hope. I can go to God's promises because they are sure. And where are those promises anchored? It is anchored in the Holy of Holies. My hope and the promises of God, if I don't know this, I don't understand God's promises. If I don't know him, I don't understand his promises. Hope, promises of God, anchored in the holy of holies. That's glorious. I hope it changes my life. If Jesus was not the perfect sacrifice then Eric is wandering back to that list from the University of Wisconsin looking for anchors. That's the reality, right? John Owen says this, and he takes it even further. He says, even heaven would be no place for us to fix our anchor if Christ was not there. Even heaven is not a place if Christ is not there as that anchor. And then he goes on to say, so this is what relieves my fears, my doubts that we just talked about and my troubles. So what is our response? As we finish up, as we wrap up, what is our response? So first, if you are here today outside of Christ, this idea of grace, this idea of trust, it's empty to you and I'm sorry. In love, I say, call upon the name of Jesus, repent of your sin, ask him for new life, ask him for hope. But if you are a believer and look at verse 18, you have a special name here. Your name is one who has fled for refuge. What a great name. Wear that name, live that name, one who has fled for refuge every day. Eric, let me get up and say, Lord, let me run to refuge today, live this name out, and turn from our superficial hoping in this world, that's what we do, right? We hope in this world to the one who will never break a promise. We must turn to the one who is the rock. So let me close with three application points and a true story. Three brief application points. Application point number one, we've seen that God does not lie. So we must be men and women of verbal and mental integrity. We must be. Integrity in our voice, And even sometimes in our exaggerations, in our embellishments, in our stretching, we do that. I've been guilty. I wanted to make myself look good, so I take a truth and I... Maybe I'm the only one that's done that. Application point number two, God is trustworthy. We must be trustworthy. in our actions, in our motives. Someone told me this week, someone from this church, they said, Eric, I trust you. I was just so humbled. I mean, I really was. Eric, I trust you. That's a huge word. Let's be that kind of person that's trustworthy. And lastly, Let's be agents of hope. We've been talking about hope. Let's be an agent of hope. The world needs hope. Take the gospel to the world and let's be a hope one to another. Let's be an agent of hope one to another. So let me close with this story. This is from R.C. Sproul. True story. This is him speaking. I was called to a hospital to the deathbed of a servant, a man of God, who was dying one inch at a time from a particular form of cancer. I got to the hospital and I beheld his emaciated body and I was moved. In that time, you want to help that person, but I'm not a physician. So I held his hand. He could barely utter any sounds out of his mouth and I asked him, I said, Deke, what can I do for you? And he said, read the word. So I turned to the book of Hebrews, and I read the promises that God made for the people of God. And I read the promise from Hebrews 6 that said, because God could not swear on anything else, he swore on himself. And as I read it, the deacon tried to move his mouth The corners of his mouth, he squeezed my hand, he shut his eyes and he died. My friend died knowing this. He died knowing that he had a future because God made a promise. He died knowing that God stands by his promises. He died knowing that God keeps his promises. It's an absolute unbreakable commitment. That's a powerful story. So does God really care about my hope and my encouragement? Jesus died for your doubts. He died for your struggles. He died for our sin. And he now lives forevermore as our anchor. Let's pray. Lord, you are our living hope. Forgive us if we have drifted away from such a great salvation. May we see you as sweet. May we see you as altogether glorious, wonderful, mighty. May we love Jesus more. I pray for those who are here and myself as we struggle with hope. We struggle with discouragement. May we see you as our anchor into the Holy of Holies. And may we glorify Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen.