Quote from Forum Archives on September 8, 2005, 3:51 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD #1/7
ANCHORED FOR LIFE
September 4, 2005
Text: Hebrews 6:13-20

Hebrews 6:19 almost always reminds me of one of the lessons I carry with
me from my former life as a mariner. Anchoring our submarine at sea was
always a carefully planned evolution. The Navigator would carefully brief
the Captain, Executive Officer, Officer of the Deck, navigation team, and
any other personnel involved within twelve hours of the planned
anchoring. We would preview the charts to get a feel for the area and
familiarize ourselves with the navigational aids we could expect to use.
As we approached our anchoring position, we would take frequent
navigational fixes and plot them on the chart so that we knew exactly
where we were. As soon as we were at our designated spot, the command to
“let go the anchor” would be given, the anchor would be dropped, and the
submarine would be backed down as the appropriate length of anchor chain
was paid out.

Even after we were anchored, care was given to ensure that we were not
drifting. The watch section would plot navigational fixes every fifteen
minutes for the first few hours. The chart would have a certain size
circle drawn around the point of our location, and we took great care to
ensure that our ship remained inside that circle. The reason for all this
care is because if our anchor did not hold, the ship would be in peril.
And believe me, no sailor wants his/her ship in peril. If we drifted, it
would be likely that we would drift toward the shore where there might be
rocks or reefs that do great damage to the hulls of ships. On the other
hand, when the anchor holds, we knew we would be safe. It didn’t mean
that we were protected from the elements. The submarine would still be
tossed by the waves and blown by the winds. As the tides came in and out,
we would usually form a circle around the pivot point of our anchor, so
sometimes we would be closer to the shore, and sometimes we would be
closer to the open sea. No matter what the elements did to us, though, we
knew that as long as the anchor held, we were safe.

Hebrews 6:19 reminds us that, “We have this hope as an anchor for the
soul, firm and secure.” The author of Hebrews lived in uncertain times.
By the time this letter was written, estimated to be in the 60’s A.D.,
Christians had witnessed and experienced persecution. We learn from
Hebrews 11:36-38 that, “Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others
were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two;
they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and
goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated - the world was not
worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and
holes in the ground.” There was a lot going on that could contribute to
thoughts and feelings of hopelessness.

In response to human hopelessness, God’s Word tells us that believers
have a hope that is anchored far more securely than we can ever
completely comprehend or imagine. The anchor of our hope is God’s
promise. “When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one
greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself…” This is the difference
between Christian hope and human hope.

Now I think that we can all agree that human hope can be a wonderful
thing. Dreams imagined by men and women that have become reality have
proven to give us healthier and even more enjoyable lives. How many of us
would like to see our families - even whole communities - wiped out by
influenza, measles, smallpox, or other diseases that are now preventable
or treatable? How many of us would like to spend our days hoping to catch
and prepare something for our next meal? Instead, we have a variety of
food that we can pull from the freezer and shelf, not worrying about
whether we will be able to find food day in and day out. Human hope has
resulted in some amazing accomplishments.

Yet, human hope knows some tremendous failures, too. The hope that led
French men and women in the eighteenth century to seek freedom from
monarchy collapsed into the anarchy of the French Revolution. Human hope
for bright futures can crumble before raging storms like Hurricane
Katrina and her aftermath. We stumble and cry out, amidst despair and
hopelessness, “why?” We wonder where God is in the midst of such tragedy
and suffering. Even though human hope can be wonderfully encouraging, it
can all too quickly be engulfed in the midst of the storms of life.

We need an anchor for life, and we have it in the promises of God. God’s
promises are completely credible - that is, believable and trustworthy -
because they are grounded in His character. He has the absolute ability
and integrity to fulfill them because that is who he is. God cannot make
a promise that He can break because that is not the character and nature
of holiness. In fact, it is so important to God that his children knows
this about Him that he confirms His promises with an oath. We find this
in Genesis 22:16-17, for instance, after God had held Abraham’s hand from
sacrificing Isaac on one of the mountains in Moriah. “I swear by myself,
declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld
your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the
seashore.” Self-confirmations of His promises are found also in Isaiah
45:23 and Jeremiah 22:5.

These are no small matters to be skimmed over. Most of us know the
historical, traditional manner in which oaths of office and courtroom
testimony are made. They have typically ended “so help me, God.” In other
words, the promise or testimony I make is so significant that I call upon
God to be witness to my truthfulness and earnestness. Well, with these
words, “I swear by myself,” God tells us that His promises are made to be
kept. In effect, He ends His promise with “so help Me, Me.” God’s promise
and God’s oath are the “two unchangeable things” specified in Hebrews
6:18. If God were to break His promise or His oath, He would cease to
exist, which is an impossibility.

All believers are anchored for life in God’s promises because they are
absolute. However, as Scripture repeatedly reminds us, God’s promises are
conditional. First, we must believe His promises enough to ask to be
saved. In other words, we have to believe in God. We cannot reject and
deny God - “oh, I don’t believe in God” - and expect Him to bless us with
His promises. He won’t. There are those who say “fine; I don’t want His
blessings.” Those souls have no anchor and will be lost.

Second, those who believe God must also obey God. God’s promises are
always framed in relational covenant. We cannot deny God’s holy nature by
attempting to live out our own selfish will and expect to be blessed by
God’s promises. How many times did Israel live this out? They rebelled
against God’s commands by committing idolatry, by committing injustices
against both their own people and foreigners, and even by going so far as
to scorn the God who loved them. Each and every time, the Hebrews came to
ruin. The only reason they were destroyed is because God loved them too
much to see them removed from the face of the earth.

We face this in our own day. There are those who believe that God does
not matter. There are those who believe that living in ways that defy
God’s commands will still somehow qualify us to receive His promised
blessings. Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you are like me, you have been shocked - completely shocked - by the
behavior of a lot of people in New Orleans. The crimes committed after
the natural disaster - looting, raping, shooting, mugging - have brought
much more suffering. It is completely out of our character, isn’t it?

Apparently not. “Where is God?” many may ask. I submit that God is where
He always has been and always will be. He is with us. But He has been
rejected. I have considered the stories I have read and heard about the
anarchy taking place in New Orleans, and I have concluded that it is
entirely in keeping with the ways of life that have been practiced there.
Mind you, I am not condemning the people there. There are many Christians
struggling alongside everyone else, and there are many more Christians
who have gone to assist in the recovery. I am merely describing the
source of the chaos that we are seeing there.

New Orleans is one of those places that has been built on the elevation
and practice of decadence, greed, and all sorts of immorality. These are
not merely my opinions; they are facts born out every year during Mardi
Gras as well as by those who visit other times. Listen to people talk
about New Orleans, and you will easily learn that it is a destination
that quite a few folk want to go to so they can sin. It is a place where
about the only people held in contempt are those who are trying to
“impose their morality on someone else. You can’t tell me what to
believe. Don’t you dare try to legislate your morality on me. I can do
what I want.” New Orleans is one of those places, and it’s certainly not
the only place, that is trying to become a secular society; that is, a
society without God.

Based upon what I have seen and read, it may have succeeded. I think that
if anyone wants to witness what a secular society looks like, they can
look at New Orleans. In the same manner as the French Revolution, New
Orleans has disintegrated into murderous, chaotic anarchy. These are the
logical and predictable results of secularism. In the context of Hebrews
6, it means not believing and practicing the covenant relationship
through which God’s promises are fulfilled. I do not believe that any
reasonable person can expect that a society and culture that has built
itself upon such open defiance to God’s holy love can be expected to have
spiritual resources upon which to draw in the midst of a crisis. Indeed,
the evidence is that they do not have any such resources upon which to
gain courage and strength. And so what we see are the same motivation
towards selfishness, self-gratification, and outright disdain for any
type of law and order that they have practiced for generations. Only it
is magnified many times over because some now had an environment in which
there was no semblance of control and order. As the saying goes, a
leopard cannot change its spots. Reject God from either a personal life
or a society’s life, and you have no anchor.

Again, I want to emphasize that I am not issuing a condemnation; they
have condemned themselves. I do not necessarily believe that the
hurricane struck that area as punishment of sinfulness. It is not out of
the realm of God’s possibilities, but hurricanes happen every year. I do
believe that the response of some resulting in more misery for everyone
is the work of satan and sinful behavior. I have no doubt about that.
When there is no anchor in place to hold the soul, the rocks in the
shallows can tear you up.

I also believe that the proper response of any Christian is compassionate
prayer and sharing of our resources as is being done. In fact, the only
reason for compassionate responses is because Christians throughout our
land still allow God to rule their lives and communities. It is because
there are still believers who know what hope from God is all about. It is
because the God-fearing, God-respecting Christian is anchored for life.
“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very
clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is
impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope
offered to us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor
for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the
curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He
has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN