Let us turn to God's word in
the chapter that we read Hebrews chapter 6 and the 18th verse. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 18 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. endeavoured on Thursday evening
to make certain remarks with regards to that expression, who
have fled for refuge. And the believers' refuge, of
course, is in that great promise that God has given in the Lord
Jesus Christ, that great promise of the Gospel. We mark on our
own this particular chapter, we have that reference to the
faith of Abraham in verses 13 and 14. When God made promise
to Abraham because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself
saying, surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I
will multiply thee. And the reference in those verses
is to that that the Lord God said to Abraham on the Mount
Moriah in Genesis chapter 22 when he had received that strange
commandment to sacrifice his son, the son of promise, Isaac. It was a testing of his faith
and he was faithful to the word of God, he was prepared to make
the sacrifice believing that God was able to raise that promised
seed again from the dead and so as we read here in chapter
11 he did in fact receive him in a figure as from the dead
and so God there confirms the promise that he had given to
Abraham because he could swear by no greater he swear by himself
And in the verses there in that chapter, in Genesis 22, we see
how the confirmation very much concerns that seed, that seed
of promise. Verse 16 in Genesis 22, By myself
have I sworn said the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing,
and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing
I will bless thee, and in multiplying thy will multiply thy seed as
the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the
sea shore, and thy seed shall possess the gates of his enemies. And then these telling words,
In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. because
thou hast obeyed my voice in thy seed, not so much Isaac that
the one of whom Isaac is but a type. As we read in Galatians
concerning that seed of Abraham, thy seed which is Christ. Oh, it is to the Lord Jesus Christ
then that the believer must fly. We must fly for refuge. to all
that God set before us in the person and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That great salvation, the pardon
of our sins, the provision of all our needs. How God preserves
us and how ultimately God will bring his people to that paradise,
the heaven of which we just sang in that lovely hymn of Joseph
Hart. That was something of what we
sought to say last Thursday evening at the prayer meeting. But I
want this morning to draw your attention more particularly to
the words that follow. We were fed for refuge, it says,
to lay hold upon the hope set before us. The hope set before
us. The believer's hope then is the
subject matter. that I want us to look at a little
more carefully this morning. Now, remember how in the former
part of this chapter Paul does speak of that faith that can
only be described as false faith. Although it might appear to come
very close to what is genuine, what is truly saving and justifying
faith, yet it is no such thing. They are very solemn and searching
words that we read there at verse 4. He says it is impossible for
those who were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly
gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted
the good word of God and the powers of the world to come if
they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance seeing
they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put into
an open shrine. What a sin is this? Is not this
some reference to a sin that is unpardonable? All that they
have professed seems to be so real. And yet, they fall away. That is indicative that the faith
is not genuine, it's not the work of God's Spirit. For as
it might appear to come to that gracious work of God in the soul,
the Lord Jesus says, He that shall endure to the end, the
same shall be saved. That is the mark of truly saving
faith, it endures. What a mercy. if we are those
who are enduring, continuing in the ways of God. It must not
only be a true beginning then, there must be that constant abiding,
that perseverance. That is the mark, I say, of true
faith. And so Paul says to these Hebrew
believers in verse 9, But beloved, we are persuaded better things
of you. and things that accompany salvation
though he speaks of those apostates and he doesn't just speak of
them of course in this chapter we find similar solemn verses
later in chapter 10 of verse 26 following searching passages
but he has persuaded better things he says of these believers these
who have professed Christ amongst the Hebrews. They have genuine
faith and here is a mark of that genuine faith, the believers
faith is a faith that is joined to hope. It's joined to hope. Verse 11, we desire that every
one of you to show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope
unto the end. To persevere, to be diligent
then in their faith even to the full assurance of hope he says. This is the believer, this is
the true child of God who has that faith that he is not simply
worked up in his own soul but he has that faith that he is
by the operation of God. The Puritan John Owen says, where
faith begets no hope, it is to be feared that faith is not genuine. These two stand together. God
has joined faith and hope together, and what God has joined together,
man is not to put asunder. So, to consider then something
of the believer's hope this morning, and I want to consider that hope
from two perspectives, two headings to deal with then. First of all,
It is the hope of heaven that we read of here in the text. The hope sets before us. Strictly speaking then, it is
not so much that grace of hope, that hope that is one of the
fruits of the Spirit, together with such as faith and love.
These are the principle graces of the Spirit. Now abideth faith,
hope, and charity or love, and the greatest of these, says the
Apostle, is love. It is not so much speaking here
of that hope that is the fruit of the work of the Spirit in
the soul, but rather is a reference to that that hope is set upon,
the heaven that is hopeful, the hope of enjoying the presence
of God at the end and to the end. Look at the context. The hope, he said, 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
forever after the order of Melchizedek. This is what they are hoping
for, heaven where Christ is. And remember what we said on
Thursday, it is the Lord Jesus Christ himself who makes heaven
what it is. What would heaven be to the believer
without the Lord Jesus Christ? It is that place of course where
the Lord himself has entered. He has gone to heaven and he
has gone there to prepare a place for his children that where he
is there they may be also. Here in chapter 9 we are told,
for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,
which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for you. Heaven is that
place where Christ is. And this is the believer's hope,
to be in that place and to see Christ as He is. God's presence was of course
known in Israel. He had entered into covenants
with that people. He had made them his own. And
his promise was that he would come and dwell in their very
midst, remember? They had that promise of his
presence in the tabernacle. When Moses was given that instruction
in Exodus 25 with regards to the furniture of the tabernacle,
and there upon the top of the Ark of the Covenant was to be
the Mercy Seat. And God says, there I will meet
with you. It was such a kind of glory.
It was God's presence, first of all in the tabernacle and
then subsequently in Solomon's Temple, there in the Oracle.
That was the very center of the worship of God, the place where
the high priest alone could enter only one day in every year, the
great day of atonement, when he took with him the blood of
sacrifice and sprinkled the mercy saints, made atonement for the
sins of the people, that they might continue in the service
and the worship of God. or it was God's special dwelling
place. His presence was known in the
midst of Israel. In Siloam also is His tabernacle
and His dwelling place in Jerusalem, says the Psalmist. And as that
was God's special presence in the midst of Israel, so we remarked
on Thursday evening how that heaven is spoken of very much
in terms of the tabernacle of God. God's tabernacle is said
to be amongst men, that is the mark of heaven as we have it
there in Revelation. Chapter 21 and verse 3, I heard
a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
The tabernacle of God is with men. This is heaven you see.
He goes on, God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither
shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed
away. And then later, in verse 22 of
the chapter, I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it." God's tabernacle, God's
presence is what makes heaven what it is. That special presence,
that gracious presence of the Lord God Himself in the midst
of His people. But then again, we have to recognise
the fact that In the New Testament we see quite clearly that the
fulfilment of the tabernacle, the great antitype of the tabernacle
of the temple, is the human nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
is that true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. as we read here in chapter 9
verse 11 Christ being come and high priest of good things to
come by a greater and more perfect tabacco not made with hands that
is to say not of this building this is a reference to that human
nature that was conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of
the Virgin Mary that human body, that human soul that was joined
to the eternal son of God. And so we speak of the Lord Jesus
Christ here upon the earth tabernacling amongst men. He in his person is the fulfillment
of all that was typified there in the tabernacle, in the temple,
in the Old Testament. And so, remember the words that
we have at the end of John chapter 2, when he speaks to the Jews
concerning his resurrection. And he speaks there of his body
in terms of the temple. Verse 19 of John 2, he says,
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, fourteen
and six years was this temple in building, and we'll now rear
it up in three days. But he spake of the temple of
his body. When therefore he was risen from
the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them,
and they believed. the Scriptures and the word which
Jesus had said. He speaks of his body that is
to be raised again from the dead as the temple. In him we have
the fulfilment, I say, of the tabernacle, the fulfilment also
of the temple. And so if we bring these two
things together, the person of Christ And heaven is that place
where the tabernacle of God is with men. We see quite clearly
that it is Christ's presence there that makes heaven what
it is. Thomas Boston says Christ is
the centre of the divine glory in heaven. Christ is the centre
of the glory of God there in that place. The city has no need
of the sun to shine by day, nor of the moon to shine by night,
the Lamb. All the Lamb is the light thereof,
we are told in the Revelation. The Lamb is all the glory in
Emmanuel's land. And this is the believer's hope,
you see. This is the hope that he sets before the child of God,
the hope set before us, that hope that has entered into heaven,
the forerunner, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has gone before His
people. And His presence there, of course,
ensures their presence. For where He is, His people will
be. As we said, He has gone before
them to prepare a way. And not only to prepare a way,
but to prepare a place. even those heavenly mansions.
For the psalmist then cries out, Whom have I in heaven but Thee?
But there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee. Faith
centres in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the blessed object of faith.
As we are told here in chapter 12 we are to be looking on to
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. But so too does
hope centre in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith experiences that
grace of Christ in this world and hope expects the glory of
Christ in another world. As we said, these two come together. This is the hope then that is
set before the child of God, the hope of glory. The hope of
being where Christ is and being with Christ for all eternity. The hope of heaven. But then,
in the second place, we also have this, the endurance. The endurance of hope. We are
told, are we not, faith is the substance of things hopeful. The evidence of things not seen. Faith and hope come together.
And as faith perseveres, so hope endures. Hope also will persevere
to the end. Paul, when he speaks of those
principal graces, those blessed fruits of the Spirit, In 2 Thessalonians
1 he makes reference there to your work of faith and labour
of love and patience of hope. These three, faith, hope and
love. Faith he says works, love also
labours. Again to the Galatians Paul makes
mention of faith which worketh by love. Although there are no works involved
in the salvation of the soul. If salvation be by works, Paul
tells us it is no more of grace. Otherwise grace is no more grace.
And yet, though salvation be altogether by the grace of God,
it is His free favour, it's rooted and grounded in the work of another,
even the Lord Jesus Christ, and His obedience, His obedience
in life, His obedience unto death, it's rooted in His blood and
in His righteousness, yet where there is that true faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, how will it be evident? It is faith, says
Paul, which worketh by love. And Paul and James do not contradict
one another. There are those who suggest that
there is some contradiction in what James says with regards
to the things that Paul had said previously. As if James is suggesting
that works do have some part to play in the justification
of the sinner. But James is not speaking of
their justification before God when he speaks of the place of
works, but he is making mention of those works as it will justify
the faith. In other words, it proves the
faith to be a genuine faith, and not that faith that he has
spoken of here at verse 4 following. Paul says it is faith that worketh
by love. And James really says something
very much the same, but he says it in far greater detail, does
he not? There in James chapter 2 at verse
17, he says, even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being
alone. That faith that hath no works is a false faith. Yea, a man may say thou hast
faith and I have works, show me thy faith without thy works,
and I will show thee my faith by my works. Thou believest there is one God,
O doest thou, the devils also believe and tremble. But wilt
thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead. The importance then of those
works. Those good works. Men are to see our good works,
and what are they to do? They are to glorify our Father
which is in heaven. The works are not for our glory,
but the works are those that show that we are those who truly
believe in God, who are trusting in Christ, who are living the
life of faith, who are delighting in all the Word of God, embracing
all the precepts of the Gospel as we would embrace the promises
of the Gospel. We are not those who are in any
way partial with regards to the book of God. We delight in the
totality of it. Faith works. Love labours. That's what Paul says. That's
what James says. And isn't that really what John
is also saying? Oh, these apostles speak with
one voice. John, there in his first Epistle
and the third chapter at verse 17. Whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of
compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little
children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but
in deed, and in truth, as faith works. So love libers, and it
will liber for the good of others, for the good of the brother.
The guy there at the end of chapter four, he says, if a man say I
love God and hate of his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom
he hath not seen? He sees his brother, he can minister
to his brother. These commandments have we from
him, that he who loveth God, love his brother, also. And what he said previously there
you see, those verses in chapter 3, indicate that his love is
to be a practical love. He ministers to the needs of
his brother. When his brother is in great
need, he is forward there to show his kindness, his compassion
to him. Your work of faith and labour
of love and patience of hope or endurance would be a more
literal rendering of the word that's used your endurance of
hope hope endures it is an enduring grace yes it
centers upon heaven that's full, that's final enjoyment of the
Lord Jesus Christ, desires to pursue him, to follow him, even
into heaven. And so it endures, not only to
the place where Christ has gone, it endures also in the way where
in Christ has gone. It's looking on to Jesus. as
we read in chapter 12. The author and finisher of our
faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross
despite the shame and is set down at the right hand of the
majesty on high. Oh, it endures you. Christ endured
the cross despite the shame and hope is the same, it endures. It perseveres to the end. as
he is looking to the Lord Jesus Christ, the one of whom we read
here in chapter 5. What are we told concerning Christ
who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayer
and supplication with strong crying and tears, and was heard
in that he feared, though he were a son, yet learned the obedience
by the things that he suffered. And this is hope, you see. It
follows in the path, in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
so we have that expression, the patience or the endurance of
hope in 2 Thessalonians 1 through. Here is the mark of the Christian's
hope. As we said in this chapter, this
sixth chapter, there is a contrast being drawn. A contrast between
one who made a spurious profession of faith and the true believer,
the true child of God. In verses 4 to 8 we have that
solemn account of the apostate who falls away But then, in the
remainder of the chapter from verse 9 following, we see something
of the child of God, whose faith works, whose hope endures. How solemn is that word at verse
6 concerning the apostates, if they shall fall away, it says. In Job we read that the hypocrite's
hope shall perish. Or the hypocrite, you see, he
might appear to have faith, but he pretends. What is a hypocrite?
He's a play actor. Puts on a show. Appears to have
faith. Appears to have hope also. He
has all the graces of the Christian so it would seem, but of course
he possesses nothing at all. And so there in the book of Job
we are told, chapter 8 and verse 13, the hypocrite's hope shall
perish. But, says Paul here at verse
9, beloved we are persuaded better things of you. and things that
accompany salvation. The believer's hope is so different.
As Paul says to the Romans, hope maketh not ashamed. Or the hypocrite's hope perishes,
but the Christian's hope doesn't make him ashamed. It endures. And why does it endure? because
it is anchored in God himself. This is the figure that we have,
is it not, here in verse 19, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within
the vial. If we think of the ship's anchor
and its cast over side and its it's cast into the depths of
the sea and it fixes its hold there at the bottom of the sea
and the ship is therefore secure. But with regards to the believer's
hope, it is said to ascend. It doesn't enter into the deeps
like the ship's anchor. No, it ascends and it is fixed
in heaven. It is fixed in God himself. It enters into that within the
vial, where God is. That God who has not only given
his promise in his word, but also confirmed his promise with
his oath. This is the context that we have
in the chapter, is it not? We have that God who is 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, all those two unchanging things, the word of God, the
promise of God, and how God has magnified his word of all his
name because he has committed himself to the accomplishment
of his word, the fulfilment of his promise. If his word fails,
he fails. And he is God no more, which
is impossible of course. These are the two immutable things
in which it is impossible for God to lie. It says, For we might
have a strong consolation who were 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, which entereth into that within
the veil, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,
maiden high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now remember what we've already
said with regards to Abraham who is spoken of in
this chapter Paul is speaking of the faith of Abraham who is the father of all them
that believe the great exemplar of faith in the Scriptures. We have him mentioned by name
here at verse 13 when God made promise to Abraham because he
could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. And Abraham was one who had of
course a blessed hope. How he hoped in God. against hope. We're told he believed
in hope. In that fourth chapter of the
epistle to the Romans, the same apostle Paul, of course he's writing here in
Hebrews 6, there in Romans chapter 4, he also speaks of Abraham, and he speaks of the hope that
that man had. Verse 18, who against hope, believed
in hope that he might become the father of many nations. According
to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being
not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when
he was about a hundred years old, neither yet the deadness
of Sarah's womb, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith giving glory to God and being
fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able also
to perform. Oh, he has faith in God and he
has hope that in the appointed season the child Isaac will be
born. Now when Abraham held that babe
Isaac in his arm It was only a fuller enjoyment
of what he had before tasted in hope. He had tasted it you
see, when he against hope he believed in hope. When he held
that little babe in his arms he enjoyed in possession what
before he had tasted in hope. That's what hope is, it's the
present experience. based on a future expectation. And the believer is the one who
expects heaven, the glory of heaven. And in his present experience,
he's already tasting it, in anticipation. And so Paul again can speak of
how in fact we are saved by hope. It is a precious gift, grace
and fruit of the Spirit, is it not? In verse 24 of Romans chapter
8 he says, we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not
hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which
we see not, then do we with patience or endurance, wait for it, all
the endurance, the patience of hope, to wait God's time, to
look to Him, to call upon Him, and yet to have that blessed
expectation in our souls. The hope sets before us. as it is described here in our
text this morning. Although, as I said at the outset,
it's not so much the grace that is being spoken of, it's that
that hope is expecting, the glory of heaven, the vision of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We shall see him as he is. We shall be like him, says John.
when we see him as he is. That's the believer's hope, that's
what he longs for, that's what he yearns for as he is engaged
in the good fight of faith. That's warfare, that's constant
conflict with sin, with himself, with his own nature, but all
the time looking for, anticipating, expecting, hoping, We are to lie hold, then, 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 whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,
made an High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. May the Lord be pleased to bless
His word to us.