Hebrews 6:17-20 Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:… That the soul needs an anchor none will deny. There is scarcely a time in its experience when it does not feel its need of a stay. Even in the harbour the ship is safe only as she is securely moored; and at sea her only chance of safety frequently depends upon her possession of these essential safeguards. I. WE NEED AN ANCHOR IN PROPORTION TO THE SHIP. A small kedge wall hold a smack, but the best bower is required for others; while some can do with nothing less than the great sheet anchor. Other things being equal, the greater the ship, the larger must be the anchor which is to hold her. But with the utmost possible precaution many a ship has perished. One of Her Majesty's ships, the Megaera, was totally lost through the badness of her anchors. One by one, no less then three gave way, and they were obliged to let the vessel drive on to the beach. But if it be important that the ship should be provided with proportionate anchors, how much more important is it that the soul should be well supplied with that which will be adequate to its emergencies! And what will suffice to meet these emergencies? What is there that can meet the requirements of the priceless, never-dying soul? Formalism is wholly inadequate as an "anchor of the soul." It may do very well for fine weather, but it will not hold in a gale There is but one good anchor. "A good hope through grace" alpine can hold thee there, and, blessed be God, that is sufficient. But there are not a few who, to make assurance doubly sure, have zone to yet another quarter, whence they have hoped to obtain an anchor which, together with the first, would be more than sufficient to meet their case. They are hoping that, through their go-d works, they will be enabled to outride the dangers of death and the judgment. The place from whence this article comes is kept by old Legality. Anxious sinner, believe me, "It is of faith, that it might be by grace." It is "not of works, lest any man should boast." But there are some who, to these two, seek to add even yet another. Their idea seems to be that no one, nor even two anchors, are sufficient. They go off to feeling in order to strengthen the other two. If legality has slain its thousands, feeling has slain its ten thousands. People are foolish to imagine that because they can work themselves up to a certain pitch of religious feeling, that therefore they are saved. It is an anchor that will not hold; nay, it is an anchor that will not even sink. II. WE NEED AN ANCHORAGE IN PROPORTION TO THE ANCHOR The best anchor in the world will not hold in a bad ground. We can easily imagine that a bad anchorage, like a bad anchor, may do very well for fine weather, but will fail in the storm. We had, I remember, an anchor that had held us well in any weather whenever we had cast it. But one day, being near the shore, we threw it over as usual, and went below to dinner. We had not been there many minutes, however, when the wind freshened, and a sudden squall with heavy rain came whistling through the shrouds. Of course, because our anchor had held us through weather worse than that, we listened with the greatest composure to the music of the storm, and were not a little entertained by it as we proceeded with our meal. But while we had not the least apprehension of danger, we were suddenly aroused by the lurching of the vessel as, dragging her anchor with her, she was being driven from her anchorage, it was no fault of the anchor; it was bad ground. We found our anchor, good as it was, could not get a hold on the indifferent anchorage into which we had cast it. It was well for us that the wind came off the land, for had it come the other way nothing could have saved us from being driven on the shore. As it was, we escaped with a drenching. I need not say that such a contingency can never happen in true spiritual navigation. The anchorage indicated in our text is equal to the anchor. It is "that within the veil." 1. The blood-sprinkled mercy-seat. Mercy through Christ is the one ground of the sinner's hope, and the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat is the only place at which he may draw near to God. 2. The sinner's Great Advocate. What a source of comfort to the convinced sinner! Look at it, anxious heart. Surely, when such an Advocate has undertaken your cause, you can leave it in His hands. Give it up to Him now. 3. The ark of Jehovah's covenant. What an anchorage! Are you conscious of daily shortcomings and oppressed continually with a sense of guilt? You may see here how, always, the "sin is covered" over, and how Jehovah Himself, as in His Shekinah glory He dwells between the cherubim, sees no spot upon you. As the broken law was hidden in the ark under the blood, so the believing sinner is hidden in Christ. This is our hope! Are you feeling your weakness? As you have to confront the dangers and difficulties of life, do you feel your need of help? The manna here reminds you of His faithfulness, whose name is still Jehovah-Jireh. You cannot look within that sacred ark, and not remember that He has said, "As thy days, so shall thy strength be," and "My grace is sufficient for thee." Are you in distress because of God's chastening hand? In the budding rod you may see the type of every sorrow that befalls the saint. It may be a rod, but it is a rod that buds and blossoms, and brings forth fruit. 4. And then, besides all this, we are reminded of the everlasting covenant. What a world of satisfaction we find there! "A world," did I say? What a heaven of height, and depth, and breadth, and length of infinite sufficiency is discovered to us there! III. WE NEED A CABLE PROPORTION TO BOTH. It is not enough to know that you have a good anchorage and a good anchor: you must also be persuaded that you have the God-wrought cable of living faith: "By grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves: it is the gilt of God." But though the anchors of feeling, and formality, and legality, and orthodoxy may be, and are, cast cableless into the sea, if you obtain the anchor "good hope," the cable of living faith is always possessed with it. For — 1. These are ever connected. Faith is the blessed cable which holds the ship here, and the anchor there. As the one strong chain ever vibrates and keeps up a communication between the anchorage and the ship, so faith, while it dwells here in the h art, ever dwells there "within the veil." 2. These can never fail. It is quite possible for a man to have an anchor and a cable of the most genuine quality, and yet, through ignorance of their nature, to be all the time in jeopardy; and it is equally possible, through the same kind of ignorance, for a man having an anchor and a cable that are bad, to repose in a false confidence until he is awakened to a terrible discovery of his mistake. Sailors have often ridden out a gale with fear and trembling, expecting every moment to find themselves adrift, while others have been suddenly astonished to find that the anchor upon which they could have staked their lives has actually given out. And these represent two very large classes of people in the religious world. There are thousands who have a good hope, but who fear that it is bad; and there are millions who have a false hope, but who believe that. it is good. To show either class their mistake is most difficult. If you try to remind the hypocrite that his hope "will perish," the sincere seeker immediately appropriates the warning as intended for himself; while if you endeavour to assure the broken-hearted that "the Lord is nigh unto them " to save them, the hypocrite will at once claim the comfort as his own. Believe me, sorrowing soul, if you are taking hold of "that within the veil" — if Christ, and Christ alone, is your trust — if His blood is your plea, and His advocacy is your daily joy, then you have the almighty anchor cast in the all-sufficient anchorage, and you are held by the omnipotent cable of living faith. With these you are safe; disaster is impossible. You must and will ride out every possible change. 3. These ever remain unchanged. It will be a Ideated thing if we can always realise this. Let our hope be" sure and steadfast." The cable will sometimes be very much shaken; in all her changes it sill rise and fall with the vessel; but, beloved friends, having taken, let hope keep its hold on that which is within the veil. The strongest cable will tremble, and so will the strongest faith; but the trembling cable holds a "sure and steadfast " anchor, and that anchor moves not though the chain may shake. (W. H. Burton.) Parallel Verses KJV: Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: |
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