Well, may it please God to graciously
bless us to meditate in his word once again. Let us turn to the
epistle of Paul to the Hebrews and chapter six, and we'll read
from verse 17 to the end. The epistle of Paul to the Hebrews,
chapter six, and reading verse 17, the last four verses in this
chapter. wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge, to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil whither
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest
for ever after the order of Melchizedek. We have a very gracious and a
very merciful God. A God who does not deal with
us according to our sins, but a God who loads us with benefits. Indeed, the 17th verse speaks
to us, wherein God willing, more abundantly, to show unto the
heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath." Well, the great question of course must be whether
this is directed to you and to me, or whether we are outside
of the secret. Because the Word tells us, God,
we're in God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise. Now the great question is whether
you and I are one of the heirs of promise, one of those whom
God has loved with an everlasting love, one of those for whom the
Saviour laid down His life one of those for whom he has gone
to repair a place in glory. And if he's gone to repair a
place for us, he will come again and receive us unto himself that
where he is there we shall be also. Well, if we are concerned
about being an heir, those who are favoured, those who are amongst
those who have indeed been blessed from eternity past in the covenant
of grace, realising that before time began, God chose a people,
and to realise that we are amongst that number. Now, if we are,
we shall continue to be concerned the wonderful evidence that we
are amongst those who are born of and by the Spirit of God. And it won't be just a formality,
and it won't be of something of little consequence, but a
blessing if it's so impressed upon our minds to question whether
we are right with God, whether we are an heir of promise, such
a concern may keep us awake at night we're not able to really
rest because we don't have the assurance that we're amongst
those heirs of promise and yet you see the concern surely will
be that the Lord will show us very clearly that we are amongst
those who are these heirs because if we are we are joint heirs
with Christ. And if we are, we can look forward
to that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, that is reserved in heaven for us
who are kept by the power of God. through grace, unto salvation
ready to be revealed in the last time. It's a great blessing to
have the evidence in our hearts that God has reserved a place
for us. And what a mercy if God has given
us that concern to truly seek that we may have the evidence
that God has reserved a place in glory. It's a tremendous thought,
isn't it? To think that the great God,
the ruler of the universe, the one who's created all things,
and here we have billions of people in the earth today and
billions of people who've passed away during the history of time,
and yet God, in his great and glorious sovereign mercy, has
reserved a place for unworthy me, unworthy you. surely it is a very humbling
situation. And so the word tells us this
evening we're in God willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel. Now this word
immutability really means unchangeable. We have a God who doesn't change. We have a God that we read is
the same yesterday and today and forever. We have a God who
said, I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. So we have tonight the promise
from this immutable God, this immutability, his counsel and
what do we read this was indeed confirmed by two immutable things
in which it was impossible for God to lie and those two immutable
things are his counsel and the oath which emanates from none
other than God himself. So that truth can never change,
can never alter, it will never vary. God is the same. I'm sure that should be a wonderful
strength and a wonderful encouragement to us to realise that we have
a God who never lies. You see, we live in a world,
don't we? of little truth today really
so many lies we don't know what is truth but yet the lord jesus
said in that glorious prayer to his father in the 17th john
thy word is truth and so tonight we have god's word which is immutable
which is unchangeable is that which you and I can rely upon. So if God has blessed us with
a promise from his word spoken into our heart, it can't be removed,
it can't be taken away, because it emanates from Almighty God,
that one who is immutable and unchangeable. Now that surely
is a word to be able to face the devil with. The devil is
very anxious, to try and persuade us that that which God has said,
that which God has done, is not of God. It's something which
we've imagined. Well, we can tell him that what
God has said is done, He is, this great God is immutable. And so may it be a strength and
a support for us. as we travel on day by day with
the many temptations and the many accusations of Satan. You see, Satan will say, well,
if, of course, you were a child of God, you would never be like
this, you would never doubt like this, you would never say things
like this, you would never act like this. Well, we know the
devil is very anxious to destroy our faith. The devil is very
anxious to turn us away from the truth of God. The devil is
very keen to destroy our faith, but you know he will never be
able to, because that which God does is done forever. It's done forever. It will never disappear. We may
lose perhaps sometimes the effect of God's Word and the power of
it, but it will never disappear. So may we be thankful for it
and understand the great truth we have in these words here,
that by two immutable things, remember the Council and Oath
of God, in which it was impossible for
gods to lie, we might have a strong consolation, a strong consolation. who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us. Now what a mercy it is to
know that we have a refuge in our time of need, in our times
of trouble, which we will. There'll be plenty of times of
need as you and I travel through this life, but when we realize
God is a very present help. God is a refuge and strength. And may we find him to be so. And if we are a true believer,
we shall find him to be so. And as we've sung, a refuge for
sinners, the gospel makes known, is found in the merits of Jesus
alone. What a glorious truth that is,
to think that we have such a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, that you
and I can go to at any time. with all our concerns, little
and large, as he is that one, whereunto we may continually
come, continually resort, as a great and glorious refuge,
a shelter, one that is mindful of us, and one that looks after
us. Well, what a blessing tonight.
If perhaps we are traveling through life, and there may be problems
and difficulties, There may be doubts and fears in our hearts.
You see, that's what the devil endeavours to do. He endeavours
to sow seeds of doubt. That's just what he did in the
beginning to Eve. He questioned the reality of
the word which God has spoken to Adam. There was no doubt about
it. She was aware of it, but the
devil tempted her. the devil deceived her and we
have that as a beacon for us today to realise that the devil
he hasn't changed his skill he hasn't changed his plans his
great concern and desire is to deceive the people of God well
when we are tempted as we will be to realise that we have this
strong consolation and we can flee the refuge flee to Jesus. What a mercy it is that we have
such a Saviour who won't turn us away. No, He won't turn us
away. You see, the door of His mercy
stands open all day and night. It's a refuge for His people. It's a refuge for the Church
of God. And may you and I know the wonderful
blessing of it. and therefore it is impossible
for God to lie. We might have a strong consolation,
a consolation in Christ, a consolation that Christ has died to atone
for our sins, that Christ died upon that cross. He bore away
our sins. He took our sins upon himself. They were imputed to him, amazing
truth, and in return, He imputed to us his great and glorious
righteousness to cover our nakedness. Well, may we have the evidence
in our little lives that we have indeed fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us. Have we a hope tonight in
the mercy of God? Have we a hope It may be a little
hope, but if it's a good hope, it'll be a blessed hope. And
don't despise, therefore, a little hope. Perhaps the Lord has given
you perhaps a little encouragement, and therefore you have a hope,
a hope in his mercy, a hope that he will look upon you in love
and favour. I hope that it will not turn
you away. I hope that it will be merciful
to you. So this hope you see, to lay
hold upon the hope set before us. Lay hold upon that good hope. That good hope, don't let it
disappear. But may we lay hold upon it and
realise how wonderful it is. You know, we read in the 11th
of Hebrews, that first verse about faith, and this is what
it says. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen. It's that which is from God. It's that which is blessed to
us from God, the living faith, the substance of things hoped
for, and the evidence of things not seen. And so we have this
statement in these words before us, to lay hold upon the hope
set before us. The devil won't want you to lay
hold upon this good hope. He won't want you to grasp it
at all. He'll want you to turn away from
it. That's why we have such encouraging
words. This refuge. Fly to this refuge. Fly to Christ. Fled for refuge. To lay hold upon the hope set
before us. Then he tells us about this hope. He says, which hope we have as
an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. I'm sure most
of us know what an anchor is. An anchor, of course, is used
by shipping, and it's a very necessary thing for ships to
have. Without it, they wouldn't be
able to stop where they were. If they needed to, in a storm
or anything, they would have to continue, but they need an
anchor. And that anchor, you see, is
cast on anything which will hold the ship. and what happens is
there is a cable usually sometimes a rope if it's a small vessel
which links the anchor to the boat or to the ship and if the
anchor therefore is cast into the soil or the rocks perhaps
which hold the anchor Then you see the boat is secure. Whatever comes, whatever force
is against it, it remains in that place. Now then, two things
here. First of all, the anchor of hope. Without the cable of faith is
a little service. No true benefit. You and I need
faith to believe. But being cast aright on Christ,
the rock on Christ keeps the soul steady and immovable. That's the great comfort and
the great blessing. If we're able to cast our anchor
nowhere else but to Christ. And then the we should recognise that this
anchor of hope, which it is, is really not cast on anything
below. We use the illustration of an
anchor cast into that which is in the sea or in the water, below
the water, to anchor onto, but let us look beyond the natural
things, because the anchor of hope is not cast on anything
below. You may say, well, where is it
cast? It's cast above. And here it's called the anchor
of the soul. It's cast within the vial. It's
cast into that glorious place where Christ is. And it is therefore
in a place sure and steadfast. And so the apostle tells us which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Now as you and I are travelling
through this world, oh, there's many storms that you and I have
to face. The evil heart of unbelief is
one of them, which no doubt we have to confront time and again. But what a blessing it is when
our soul is cast within the veil. within the veil and we can tell
the devil that Christ has died, yea rather is risen again. We can point the devil to Calvary. You see the devil hates any mention
of Calvary because there his whole plan was destroyed. He didn't realise that when Christ
died that he would rise again. He didn't realise that on that
cross at Calvary the Blessed Saviour fulfilled all that his
father gave him to do in order to redeem his church. He completed
that glorious work that his father gave him to do and he was able
to utter those wonderful words, it is finished. And then he gave
up the ghost. what a glorious Savior we have. And you see there, may our soul
be anchored in what Christ has done. Let us not be anchored
anywhere else. Let us not rely on our own abilities.
Let us not rely on our chapel going. Let us not rely on our
own good works. Let us only rely upon the finished
work of Christ. the blessed work of Christ, the
glorious work of Christ, and have the assurance and the spiritual
evidence that Lord Jesus Christ died to redeem our souls. There we were, a lost sinner. There we were, without any hope
in ourselves. There we were, hastening to a
lost eternity. Terrible thought. Frightful thought. and yet to realise that there
was the Saviour, the Saviour of sinners, who was so willing
to redeem our souls, so willing to bear the punishment that was
ours, so willing to die on our behalf. It's a wonderful and
glorious doctrine, the doctrine of what we term substitution. that means the Lord Jesus Christ
was a substitute for us it was gloriously illustrated in the
life of Abraham and Isaac when God spoke to Abraham to offer
up Isaac his only son and Abraham was willing and yet there in
the life of Isaac really rested all his faith but you see God
gave him faith to believe that God could even raise up Isaac
from the dead and so he didn't hesitate he went forward and
God graciously and gloriously intervened as Abraham was about
to slay his son and told him to stop And he said, now I know
that now believe is me. And there behind was that ram
caught in its horns in the thicket. And Abraham was commanded to
take that ram and offer him up instead of his son. And there
we see the wonderful and glorious picture of substitution that
our life was spared. The Lord Jesus Christ gave his
life in order that our souls might be redeemed. Well, tonight,
as we think of that great and glorious truth, have we then
a hope that our little anchor is cast within the veil, is cast
into our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is risen. He has ascended. He is now in glory. and in glory
there interceding for his people. What a wonderful truth it is
to know that the Lord Jesus Christ, he entered into glory, he entered
into heaven there to intercede for his people and to think that
even now today if our anchor is cast within the veil and that
we are dependent upon the Lord Jesus Christ presenting our prayers
to His Father. He is indeed our great and glorious
High Priest. You think of the Old Testament
dispensation. There was no direct access, no
direct admittance into the Holy Place. The only one that could
go into the Holy of Holies was the High Priest. And that of
course, not without blood. What a glorious annual occasion
that was when the higher priest went in with the blood to atone
for his sins and the sins of the people. He went into the
holy place and the holy place really was a picture of heaven. But now the Lord Jesus Christ,
he's entered in once into glory, into heaven itself. as our great
High Priest, no more a change of priests, because He ever liveth,
ever liveth to intercede for us, so we can come to Him and
in every time of need, with all our needs, and recognize that
we have a God who understands all about us. And therefore,
have we then, this we have as an anchor of the soul, the realization,
the evidence in our own hearts that Jesus is seated in the Father's
right hand there to intercede for us. And he tells us that
the Apostle writes and says, which hope we have, do we? You must answer that question
before God. I cannot see into your heart. You can't see into
my heart. But my friends, this is a good
hope. This is a great hope. This is
a blessed hope. And we all must have this hope
before we pass out of time into eternity. The Word of God tells
us today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your hearts. And also in the Revelation, those
words of the seven churches, He that hath an ear to hear, let us hear. These are great
truths, let us hear them. Let us praise God for them, and
let us enter in to these truths in a personal way, so that we
can tonight rejoice in the fact, as indeed Paul did, as he wrote
these words to the Hebrews, that he was, by the grace of God,
had fled to this refuge, refuge of Jesus, to lay hold upon the
hope set before us. You see, there's a lay hold upon
it by faith. God gives faith. You and I can't
lay hold of it in and of ourselves. We are poor sinners, mortal sinners,
and with no ability to do these things. But the Lord comes, the
Lord gives faith, and the Lord gives grace, unmerited favour. to be found in this place, laying
hold upon this hope set before us. It is set before us. It's
in these words. It's in the Word of God, this
good hope, through grace, through the merits of the Saviour, that
it's well with our souls. We don't want to go on and on
through life without any hope. We don't want to pass out of
time into eternity without any hope. We want to have the evidence
of the blessed work of God in our hearts and the wonderful
faith given to us. You know, the Apostle James,
or James rather, when he wrote his epistle in the first chapter
and the sixth verse, where he says this, but let him ask in
faith, nothing wavering. That means not unbelieving. he tells us what it is to be
wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with a wind and tossed no anchor no hope oh tonight may we be
blessed with this wonderful gift of faith
and it is a wonderful gift and it is a necessary gift and you
and I must have it. Friends, if you do not have it,
pray for it. You may be blessed with this
God-given faith to be able to come and to lay hold upon the
hope set before us, recognising what the Apostle says, which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. These things are very positive,
aren't they? Sure and steadfast. and which entereth into that
within the veil, whether the forerunner is for us entered."
The Lord Jesus Christ is the forerunner. He has run the race. Run the race, yes, and what a
race it was for the blessed sake. What he had to endure. What a
hard race it was. It wasn't easy, was it? Opposition
all the way. All the way. Day after day. But,
bless it be God, he did. He did win the race. He did conquer hell, sin and
the devil. And he is entered into glory. Into the veil. Beyond the veil. Again, we have the picture. In
the Old Testament, there was the veil. And a very heavy veil. which separated the holy place
and the most holy place. And the only way into that holy
place was by the high priest once a year, not without blood. But we have this wonderful scene
here that the Lord Jesus Christ has entered into the veil. He's entered in, even Jesus. maiden high priest yes he is
a great and glorious high priest and so coming back to these words
let us lay hold upon the hope set before us which hope we have
as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast which entereth
into that within the veil to think that the lord gives
us faith our prayers enter within the veil And the Saviour takes
those prayers and presents them to His Father as our great and
wonderful and glorious High Priest. Well, I think sometimes of those
wonderful words at the end of the 15th chapter of the first
epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. And he comes and he says, well
the last two verses really, 57 and 58, he says, but thanks be
to God, which giveth us the victory. How? By our own ability, by our
own strength, by our own words? Not at all. But thanks be to
God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, therefore and you
can read the previous verses to this which is a wonderful
picture and enables us to come to this last verse therefore
my beloved brethren be ye steadfast unmovable always abounding in
the work of the Lord for as much as ye know that your labour is
not in vain in the Lord not in vain, it's a blessed privilege
and favour to recognise the Lord has given us this gracious access. So here we have then this anchor
cast within the veil, given to us as a wonderful favour and
a wonderful blessing. When the Apostle Paul wrote to
the Thessalonians, he wrote some very wonderful and encouraging
words. Let us, he said, who are the
day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith which God
gives, and love, and from helmet the hope of salvation. The hope of salvation. Well,
has God given us a hope in salvation? It is that which is a helmet
which covers our head. We should be thankful for it
because, be sure of this, the devil will attack our head. That
means he attacks our mind. But if we have the helmet of
salvation, the hope of salvation, what a strength that'll be and
what a support it will be as you and I press on through life
to have our confidence in our God and not in ourself and to
think we have this great and glorious Savior who is the forerunner
who's run the race on our behalf yes he's run the race and he's
conquered let us ever be thankful for that he is now entered in,
the devil endeavoured to stop the Saviour. He did everything,
didn't he? You think of the opposition the Lord passed through, especially
in those last few days, or the last few hours perhaps, of his
life upon this earth. And the battle was so great,
so tremendous, that our blessed Saviour cried out, if it be possible
let this cup pass from me nevertheless not my will but thine be done
and of course it was not possible because if it had been possible
and the savior had not endured if he had not done the will of
his father there would be no salvation for us today so let
us be thankful the lord jesus christ was that wonderful forerunner
and not only in that garden of Gethsemane but when he was on
the cross in that last few hours before he departed before he
dismissed his spirit he said my god my god why has thou forsaken
me i would just say that sometimes perhaps we might feel a little
bit forsaken You might feel a little bit forsaken. Well, let's just
ponder this. If you feel a bit like that,
it may be that the Lord is graciously blessing you in a wonderful way
in fellowship with his sufferings to lead you into a little of
the glory of the death of Christ. You see, we don't come that path
without the Lord drawing near. drawing us to himself and explaining
to us why we're walking such a path. It's to have fellowship
with his sufferings and to realise here we have the forerunner and
we're following. We're following that great and
glorious forerunner. We're following in his footsteps.
Trust we are. And this forerunner has entered
into this holy place within the veil even Jesus made a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Melchizedek, of course, is a
character who is very difficult to understand and explain. What we do know is that Melchizedek
was greater than Aaron, but Christ is greater than Melchizedek,
for he was both king and priest. in which he was an eminent type
of Christ. And so we have this wonderful
truth, a high priest forever. Yes, the Savior is ever in glory,
there to intercede for us. Any time of the day, night, whatever
the situations, our blessed Savior, He never slumbers nor sleeps.
He's always there. What a consolation for us as
you and I journey on sometimes weary, sometimes tired. We have
a high priest who is ever there on the Father's right hand, and
may we therefore be found casting our anchor within the veil, not
outside, within the veil, to realise the importance of that,
because there is safety. You see, we're secure. There
is security in Christ. no security outside naturally
for a boat with no anchor there's no security it can go anywhere
the wind can drive it here and the wind can drive it there but
if the anchor is cast then there is security and so it is with
the church of god oh bless god today if you and i possess that
grace to be found casting our anchor within the veil because
of this good hope, this good hope which we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, because the anchor cast within
the veil is sure and steadfast. It'll never lose its hold. It'll
never come adrift because we are in Christ Jesus and that
eternally. So whatever we have to pass through
in our little life, here below we can believe that the Lord
has ordained a safe passage for us through the storms of life
to eventually enter in to the glorious place of heaven and
to be with Christ forever and to enjoy the wonderful fellowship
with our Saviour. The psalmist tells us, they that
trust, or that can be also written hope, they that hope in the Lord,
shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth
forever. Well, tonight, may we have the
evidence that our hope is a good hope, And it is related to this
great truth here that we read in this part of the sixth chapter
of the Hebrews. It is an anchor of the soul. It anchors our soul into Christ. That surely is the great and
glorious truth. Anchored together in Christ,
eternally safe. What a mercy, what a blessing
for us to lay hold upon Therefore, as Paul said, that by two immutable
things, remember the counsel of God in his oath, in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. as we journey along, not a little
consolation but a strong consolation as we are found looking to Jesus
that one who is the author and finisher of our faith who have
fled for refuge and I hope we have fled for refuge to lay hold
upon the hope set before us which hope we have as an anchor of
the soul you see he says which hope we have those who are true
believers are blessed with this both sure and steadfast. Oh, in this time of moving sand,
as it were, to know that we have an anchor cast within the vial,
which entereth into that within the vial, whither the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus, none less, even Jesus, made in
a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Well, tonight,
may we indeed have the evidence and have the knowledge that our
hope is cast within the veil as an anchor and we're anchored
in Christ or nowhere else would do. God bless God then if we
have the evidence of it that we may realize that that gracious
God has looked upon us and he's loved us and he's drawn us to
himself so by faith we've been able to come to him in our time
of need and to be found in this sure and steadfast place that
there is that entering in within the veil with a the forerunner
is for us enter even jesus well may god be pleased to bless and
instruct us his name sake amen