Hope Anchors the Soul

Take your Bibles if you would please and turn to the book of Hebrews chapter 6. Our text is 13 through 20 today, Hebrews 6, 13 through 20. And if you're taking notes, the title for today's message is Hope Anchors the Soul. Hope anchors the soul. It's the anchor that keeps us steadfast before Christ our King. And this hope is actually Christ Himself. It's amazing in today's text that we will see that God has substantiated adequately by historical proofs and His follow through and by His deity that hoping in Christ is the anchor for our soul. He's proven Himself to His believers, especially for which the letter of Hebrews is written to, the Hebrew Christians. And with this congregation intertwined and intermixed with some nonbelievers, perhaps they too could be drawn into the hope of Christ.

And so read with me in Hebrews chapter 6. And actually, I'd like to start in verse 12 just because it helps us to see another key that will be in the text for today in the message. Hebrews chapter 6 verse 12 says, "So that you will not be sluggish but imitators." If you circle your Bible in your Bible, circle the word imitators. We'll be coming back to that in just a little bit. "Imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you." This is a direct quote from Genesis chapter 22 and verse 17.

So if we would, let's just work through this verse by verse a bit slower today and hold your place here in Hebrews chapter 6 and turn with Genesis chapter 22. I'd like you to see for yourself this direct quote where God is saying to Abraham, "I will surely bless you and will surely multiply you." In Genesis chapter 22 and verse 17 it says, "Indeed, I will greatly bless you and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore. And your seed shall possess the gate of the heavens." The enemies, verse 18, "In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice." What an amazing promise and through all of the covenants, they will gradually increase and be fulfilled in Christ. We see that in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16.

Now as we continue through today's text in Hebrews chapter 6, go back with me if you would, Hebrews 6 and verse 15. And so having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. "For men swear by one greater than themselves." Okay, this is illustrated in Exodus chapter 22 verse 11. And in Exodus chapter 22 and verse 11, I'll read it to you, it says, "An oath before the Lord shall be made by two." Okay, it's interesting on how God is utilizing what the Hebrews know to be able to substantiate the reasoning for hoping in Him. And they know the Old Testament law, and that an oath made by two is verification, and it is to be accepted.

So I'll read the rest of the verse with you and how the Hebrews or the Israelites were to accept an oath if it was made by two. And that was kind of like the judge pulling down his gavel and saying, "It's done. An oath before the Lord shall be made by two of them, and He shall not lay His hands on His neighbor's property, and its owner shall accept it. And so this oath made by two shall be accepted, and He shall make restitution." This is in reference to Hebrews chapter 6 verse 16, which I just read.

And I would make just a side note comment on God and how He gradually reveals Himself to us through history. One of the points for which we see that God stoops down to human levels and introduces Himself to us is the entire book of Deuteronomy. It is written in a way that they would have understood perhaps a Caesarean document, a five-part treaty. And so as you read the entire book of Deuteronomy, it is set up with these different sections for which kings in the day would set up a treaty with other cities. And so think of a massive city like the Hittite Kingdom making a treaty with a smaller little city and them saying to you, "Here's who I am. I know who you are, the first part, and then here's what I'll do for you, and here's what you do for me, the second and the third part. Oh yes, and by the way, the fourth and the fifth part, if you don't, will just crush you anyway." So Deuteronomy is set up in that way that it is a big long letter in this format. So God is giving His covenant, His law to His people so that they can understand it.

And it's the same way as when God starts to reveal His law to us. He's using language that we understand. He's using terms, there's heavenly languages that we don't understand, but He has disclosed Himself to us. I mean, so much so that He's gone way over and beyond even to send His own Son incarnate in person to preach and to do miracles and to verify. I mean, the evidences of God are manifold. And we hear in the text that God even goes farther to substantiate the fact that He is worthy of your hope, and that actually will be sustaining for you. In the text is why He goes on to verify who He is to them. You think to yourself, "Who are they that God would have to verify Himself to them?" Well, God cares that much about them, and He cares that much about you.

And so today for the message, the emphasis, if you're dealing with perhaps a little bit of hopelessness, maybe a little bit of depression, this is a good message, a good text for you today, because God truly makes it very clear that your hope in Christ is sustaining. It's actually amazing. And so again, let's go back to the text in verse 16, Hebrews 6, 16, "For men swear by one greater than themselves." So that has been established. "And with an oath given as confirmation is an end of every dispute." We just saw that illustrated in Exodus 22, 11. The oath by two establishes the result, the dispute is over.

In verse 17, "In the same way, God..." Now, is that not amazing? God is now coming down to how we operate, or they then operated. And by these same terms, proving Himself to the people, I just humility on display. It is incredible. And so let's continue in this, "In the same way, God, desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise the unchangeableness of His purpose, interposed with an oath." Okay, and so when you see that God's unchangeableness here, we looked at the doctrine of immutability last week and how God does not change Jesus Christ, it's the same day after day, today, and forever more. But He is utilizing His deity on display here to prove to you that He's consistent and trustworthy. So that's one. And then a second way is He is putting before you His purposes unchanging as well.

So not only is His deity unchanging, but His purposes are unchanging. And this purpose is God's predestined plan to bring a people to Himself through His Jesus' sacrifice as a descendant of Abraham for the salvation of the elect. Now I know that that's a mouthful, but this is God's plan that does not change throughout all of time. Now, I change my mind when I'm in the drive-through for a coffee, and sometimes I'll change my mind as I'm fixing to order that, but God does not change. It is so worth our steadfast trust in Him and His plan, because it's from before time began.

In verse 18, "So that by two unchangeable things," we just talked about those two things, God's nature and God's plan. Those are the two things that God substantiates His credibility with. "By two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie," like as if He had to say that, "we who have taken refuge," okay, those who have been saved, those who are in Christ and taken refuge in the Lord, would have not a weak faith, but strong faith, strong encouragement, steadfast, unmovable, and always abounding in the work of the Lord is what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15, 58. That is superbly important to know, and we are then to take hold of this hope in the text. This strong encouragement is something that you take hold of. This word in the Greek, the essence here, is that you would, with all of your might, hold on to it like as if your life is dependent upon it. And so you have a lifeline, and this line is not anchored in nothing, it's anchored in Jesus Christ. And so you hang on to this as if hell is below you and heaven is above you, and you hang on to this rope of hope with all of your might.

And so take hold set before you in verse 18. And then in verse 19 it says, "This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek." Now once again the author is wedding our appetite for this priest king, come back next week for more on him. We'll get there. He's already wed our appetite a couple times in the book of Hebrews in chapter 5. He said it twice, and now he says it again. And once we get to chapter 7, it's a whole list of information about this wonderful theophany, this wonderful pre-incarnate Christ figure.

But that's next week for now. We're looking at the priestly work that Christ did as he entered into the veil to be able to grant to us that same benefit. I want to prove it to you because as now we are able to truly enjoy the presence of God, this is hope because we can go right behind what used to be closed off for the majority of people and the priests and limited to just a high priest once a year to be able to go behind the veil into the holies of holies and to be able to enjoy the presence of God.

And so now as we go back through and look at the themes of this text, I would say to you, since God has made these promises and He uses Abraham as a case in point and He's kept His promises and then He's also said that it's impossible for him to lie and that he strongly desires for you to have a steadfast hope in Him and His Son, then why would you not be thriving in Christ? The question is, begging on your behalf then, with all of this information, with all of this solid foundational truths that we have before us, that God has proved to us, why then would we not be thriving, especially when He wants us to be thriving in Christ?

Let's simply rationally say and identify with you that the human heart, before you have this idea of thriving in Christ, abiding in Christ and being alive and filled with the Holy Spirit, in our natural state, before thriving, there has to be an element of trust, there has to be an element of truth, of hope, has to be an element of stability, things before you actually open up fully and thrive in Jesus Christ. And I know that and the text knows that and the author of Hebrews knows this and he desires that they be thriving in the supremacy and the glories of Christ.

And so to achieve this goal, the author lines up these credibility to convince them to be restabilized in Christ. You know that the author is writing to a persecuted people and they've been destabilized and they are drifting according to Hebrews chapter 2 verse 1, they're drifting from Christ. And this whole letter is establishing the supremacy of Jesus Christ and how He is above the law, He's above angels, He's above the priesthood, He's above above, above, above, above the earth, there's nothing greater than Christ. And so the entire letter, this sermon preached to the Hebrews, perhaps preached by Paul recorded by Luke, is aiming at revitalization of the heart, restoring them.

And now He's really zeroing in and saying to them, "Jesus Christ is the anchor of your soul." And so it lines up these credibility. Why then would we lack hope? Well there's all kinds of different reasons and some may be something like this, if someone lets you down and you've been deflated in life, maybe you perhaps have gone through something more severe and you've lost a child, maybe something really tragic has happened in your life, a bit defeated, maybe you've had a spouse cheat on you, maybe you didn't get that raise you were hoping for, maybe you feel trapped in life, maybe you're overworked and underpaid, maybe you've had everything stolen from you, maybe you're trying to get reestablished, maybe you don't have electricity, maybe things are really desperate in your life.

This just gives me an opportunity to have another side note and brag on our missions efforts that are happening over in India and having partnered with Dr. Joel Breidenbaugh to establish a Bible college over there that is producing dynamic men who are planting churches and preaching the gospel in Hindu neighborhoods. And people are flocking to Christ out of Hinduism to Christ because Hinduism has just exhausted souls over the years, done nothing for them. It's kind of like what many of you have experienced in that shallow or even false Christianity has exhausted your efforts and exhausted your souls and worn you out and now you're refreshed through sound doctrine.

I would say to you that over there they don't need the benefits that we have with air conditioning and chairs and stuff like that. The church planting efforts that are going over there, they start with bamboo poles and tarps. And I just got word last night or the night before that 70 more souls have come to Christ. Amen. That's worth giving God applause to say. Thank you for drawing people into Himself. I'm looking at some of you smiling and I kind of know who have given to the Bible effort. They're getting Bibles to those folks over there and we have celebrated that and seen stacks of Bibles in Telugu brought to these wonderful people. What hope they have.

Now the reason why I bring that up is because our hope is found in nothing less than Jesus Christ and His righteousness. They don't have chairs and electricity, they don't have running water, they don't have the comforts of home, but yet their hope is high. And sometimes we conflate what I would simply say to you as the prosperity gospel with hope in Christ. I mean have you truly become deflated because maybe you think that you do not have what you deserve? Maybe re-looking at Reformed theology in that the wages of sin equals what? Death. Taking a really good hard look at what we do deserve. And a biblical worldview on those types of things helps gain a better perspective.

And then when we know the truth, we have a baseline here in Christ we can be built up in hope because we're no longer, we're no longer stretching for perhaps you know these earthly temporal things as a means to see that God is blessing us with some type of hope or whatnot. One of the main reasons I bring this up because the covenant to Abraham is abused by the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel today takes the same promises that God promised to Abraham and his descendants by giving him, promising him land and wealth and descendants. The Old Testament blessings for Israel to the New Testament like as if God is owing you or a sign of His blessings upon your life is wealth and health and land. The conflating the two covenants. And so that is not true.

And if you truly know the Word of God then you would be able to discern that these covenants grow and they mature. That more light is illuminated. And so God has fulfilled His promises and he owes you nothing. And so we don't lose hope over the fact that maybe we don't have health and wealth and prosperity. Our hope is in Christ. And when you look at the modern church growth movement and how most pastors have been given to the idea that numbers equals success or God's blessings then you then would have to double back and say that God's Word is not true because Jeremiah was a failure. Noah was a failure according to the church growth false gospel. And so the blessings are needed to be equated in your mind as in Christ and whatever he gives you will really be content in that.

Let's take a look a little bit closer at these promises in Genesis. Genesis turn with me to chapter 12 and let's analyze this because the text takes us there with the fact that God uses Abraham as a case in point. He mentions that when God made the promise to Abraham. Okay. And so in Genesis chapter 12 this promise starts verses 1 through 3. Now the Lord said to Abram go forth from your country and from your relatives and from your father's house and to the land which I will show you and I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and I'll make your name great.

And so you shall be a blessing verse 3 and I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. And so you see land descendants in a worldwide blessing here through the loins of Abraham through his seed. So God establishes this covenant with Abraham in these promises and this promise of land simply foreshadows the new heavens to come and the promise of a nation and blessing your name is a promise that his legacy will be protected and Christ will come from him the Messiah to come. And then as well this worldwide blessing spreading to the nations of the earth a blessing to the world that the gospel of salvation will be extended to all of the nations.

And so when you see these in light truly are you do not misapply them as if God is to bless you with land and descendants in a worldwide gospel. It's not about you that's a man-centered message and the biggest mistake in shallow preaching today is man-centeredness rather than God-centeredness. And so this is God's words about him and his glory. As God continues to unfold these promises in Genesis chapter 14 turn the page to Genesis 14 18 through 20 you see Melchizedek a priest of God most high and a king of Salem and this means that he is a king of peace.

Genesis 14 18 and Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. Some believe I think that it's a great foreshadowing as well of the Lord's Supper to come that's a great foreshadowing verse there and then it goes on to say that now he was a priest at the God most high and he blessed him and said blessed be Abraham of God most high possessor of heaven and earth and blessed be the God most high who has delivered you your enemies into your hand and he gave him a tenth of all. And so there's a truism in the text that you see here that the lesser is blessed by the greater and so that happens here in the text and by this act Abraham submits to this authority of the king of Salem his spiritual and his legal authority.

So this text honestly is profoundly Christocentric in foreshadowing the Christ to come. Melchizedek is a wonderful figure that does this it's a Christophany. Now as these continue to unfold you get more, and more details about Christ and so again the prosperity gospel will make it about you but it's about Christ. In Genesis chapter 15 you get some more information where God tells Abram not to fear that he will be his shield and reward him and bless him with a son and that his descendants will be like the stars.

And so in Genesis chapter 15 and verse 5 and he took him outside and he said now look toward the heavens and count the stars if you are able to count them and he said to him so shall your descendants be. And then he believed in the Lord and he reckoned it unto him as righteousness. Praise the Lord the salvation of Abram. And then in verse 13 God said to Abram know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in the land and is not theirs where they will be enslaved 400 years. And so don't forget about these types of promises as well. Most forget about the promise in Philippians chapter 1 verse 29 not only is it granted unto you to believe but also to suffer.

And so here for Abraham's descendants they will also be suffering enslavement for 400 years. God foretold that so now you have more information continuing to lead up. And so God makes these and they're going to happen. I would like for you to know from the text in Hebrews chapter 15 that the point for which the author is making for you to be able to know from Abraham is patience. You see Abraham was given these promises when he was 75 years old and then they didn't come until he was like 100. And then he died at like 175. You see these large swaths of time.

And so the patience of Abraham is commended and now I extend that to you. Go back to the text in Hebrews chapter 6 and see it with me in verse 15. And so having patiently waited he obtained the promise. And so sometimes we get a bit deflated because we do not think it's happening our time. Right. And I would simply remind you that God created time in the beginning. That was the creation of time and that is for us. And so we exist outside of time or I mean God exists outside of time. We are subject to time. We're subject to having to rest. We have a limited amount of time that we can actually work and have cognizance but God is unlimited in every way and he's outside of time.

So we're on His time and His dime. So don't become victim of hopelessness. Actually let me change my words around. Don't succumb to that. Don't give yourself to hopelessness. It's a woke idea to think of yourself as a victim and that is anti-biblical because God is in control. And so think of it this way. The patience of Abraham has been commended in the text. And the promises to Abraham, a son, and for his descendants to be like the stars, were something that were outside of his ability to comprehend for a long time.

And so as that came about God tested him and made it to where as the promised son Isaac actually came he was actually tested and had to you know foretell the coming of Christ through the potential sacrifice of his own son. These are, these are testings that develop the faith of Abraham which project more about Christ and it's more about Christ than it is about Abraham. And so when you read the story of Abraham, the whole life of Abraham and all the chapters in Genesis, it's more about what God is, who he is, than it is about Abraham. And when we read an Abrahamic centric way of reading the text, you start to apply things to your life in a way that you think that you deserve what God does, perhaps does not intend for you to have.

But when you read it for what it truly is, it's not about Abraham. And through all the patience of Abraham and all the time going by, he was not only required to remain confident in God's plan and to believe in God's plan and be anchored in this plan, but he was also severely tested in this plan. And it was all for God's greater glory. And so I would say to you as well, whatever God is sovereignly working out in your lives, whatever providences of or lining up in your life, it's more about Him than it is about you. And keep that in mind as you subject yourself to the sovereignty of God, and then you have stable hope.

Your stability there is in Christ and in His ability and not in yours. This hope is the anchor for your soul. And if for some reason you have put your hope in something else, well, no wonder you are experiencing hopelessness. Our hope must be founded and grounded in Jesus Christ and in His life. And I'm telling you, do not overlook the fact that you are a human. And if you have been underneath bad teachings, shallow teachings for an extended period of time in your life, as human beings, we are conformed. We're molded to our environments. Bad company corrupts good character. 1 Corinthians 15:33, your character has been molded by the company that you have kept. The things that you have listened to and the people that you have interacted with have helped to make you who you are.

And so I'm saying to you, get rid of all the things of the world and immerse yourself in the Scriptures to become more biblical in your worldview, become more biblical in your thoughts. We need a lot of what husbands are to do with their wives, so wash them with the Word of God, according to Ephesians chapter 5. We need a lot of washing. Don't forget that you're a human being and that whether you are a priest, a prophet, a pastor, or a regular person, you're a human being and you're not above failure. You're not above being altered by the ways of the world. Bad company corrupts good character.

I was so impressed with my son when he was exploring going to UCF one year. He went and toured it and came back and said, "What did you think, son?" He says, "Well, one could really lose themselves at UCF." He was right. All of the different crowds and all the different pressures are so immense on these secular university campuses. And so we need to remember that if you have truly been underneath bad teachings for a long period of time, remember, be patient, especially with yourself, and grow in sound doctrine. Continue to realign your ideas with biblical thought.

Can you imagine if Abraham thought about his life the way that we think about our lives? I think that he would have suffered with some hopelessness. So if you're dealing with hopelessness, I want you to remember this from the life of Abraham as well, that it's just as Abraham received these promises when he was 75 years old in Hebrews chapter 6 verse 13, look with me. And when God made the promise to Abraham, he was 75. Do your research, okay? Now just go forward two verses. And so having patiently waited, he obtained the promise. Guess how old he was then? 95. Patience. Very important to have confidence in God. It's not minimum work. Pin a immersing yourself in Christ. And I'll tell you how it's in the message. But for now I'll say to you, Genesis 18:14 says, "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?"

Some people would be in a state of depression or hopelessness, and I get how trapped you feel. But Genesis 18:14 says, "Is anything too difficult for the Lord?" Okay? God doesn't need these worldly means to make you thriving in His Son Jesus Christ. Remember Abraham, after so many chapters in Genesis, after so many different events, after so many different testings, he was rewarded with the promise after so many years, and years, and years of being patient.

And so now this then aims at the Hebrew hearers, which applies to us, in that we have hope. It's the descendants of Abraham who have hope, who have hope. Look with me in chapter 2 verse 16, I think it is. "Yes, for assuredly he does not give help to angels, but he gives help to the descendant of Abraham." Now this is aiming at Christ, but applies to Christians. Hebrews 2:16, "It is amazing that he gives help to his descendants." Now you may sometimes conflate the difference between is this aiming at just Abraham or is it aiming at just the Israelites? Where do these promises go? Let me just make it clear to you that the promises continue, and they're not like a siloed, or they just stop with Abraham, or they just stop with Israel, or they just stop with Moses.

The promises continue, and they escalate, and they culminate in Christ, okay? And as descendants of Abraham, we have these blessings and benefits that apply to us spiritually, not physically. Let me prove it to you, okay? So we have here the encouragement from the Hebrew for us to be hopeful in Christ, to take hold of this hope. And in verse 12 it says, "So that you will not be sluggish but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Okay? So inherit these promises. "For when God made the promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one great, he swore to himself, saying, I'll surely bless you, and I'll surely multiply you, and so having patiently waited..." This is the illustration of Abraham we're getting to us.

"He obtained the promise for men swear by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath given as confirmation is an end to every dispute in the same way." God desiring even more to show to the heirs of the promise. Who are the heirs of the promise? God is wanting to show the descendants of Abraham, the heirs of the promise, His unchangeable purpose and deity, so that we will have a promise in His Son. And these are spiritual descendants by the time we get to this point. It's not just two Israelites or Abraham's literal descendants that the promises apply. These are spiritual descendants. Okay? Descendants. They're like the stars and they're innumerable. They're like the in verses 12 and 13. And go to Hebrews chapter 11. I want to prove it to you that these are spiritual descendants for which the promises are for.

Hebrews chapter 11 verses 12 and 13. Hebrews 11 12, "Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead, at that as many descendants of the stars of heaven in number, and innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore." Okay? You know that's talking about Abraham and his descendants. "All these died in faith." So the descendants that receive the promises are those who have died in faith. Are all who are of national Israel today saved? Absolutely not. It's the same as saying are everybody in America saved. Absolutely not. And so it is the spiritual descendants of Abraham whom are the heirs of the promises.

And so as we see that these whom are the heirs of the promises are those who have died in faith, those who have been saved, we then further substantiate our thought in that we too as heirs of the grace of God, His salvation, heirs of Abraham. How do we reconcile this? One way that you continue to prove these points is that if it's true, it's true through and through. And so other preachers in the Bible, other scriptures will say the same things. Turn to Acts chapter 2 with me and see it as well. In Acts chapter 2 verse 39, "Who do these promises apply to?"

Now we've talked about how they do not apply. They don't apply physically. They apply spiritually. But now who do they apply to? In Acts chapter 2 verse 39, "For the promises for you," talking about the Jews, "and for your children, and for all who are far off." This is a reference to the Gentiles, those who are far off, "as many as the Lord our God will call to himself." Those whom God has called to himself are heirs of the promises. They are descendants of Abraham. These are spiritual descendants.

I would like to just further substantiate this truth to you so that you know that you are able to have this hope as an heir of Abraham. In Romans chapter 4 verse 11, it says this, "The father of all who believe." So God is the father of all who believe. Verse 12, "Who also follow in the steps of faith of our father Abraham." Following in the steps of faith of all who believe, these are spiritual descendants. So who are the who? They're the heirs of the promise. And that's who it is. Further substantiating this idea, the Jewish writer, Matthew, writes to a Jewish audience and starts with a genealogy because Jews value genealogies.

And he starts off that wonderful gospel in Matthew chapter 1 verse 1 in referring to our father Abraham. And guess where he goes in verse 2? The father of Isaac. And in verse 6, "of David." And then verse 16, "of Joseph, by whom Jesus was born." Do you see how this progression moves forward? And so God's promise to Abram went beyond making Abram the father of nations to become a father of Christians, to being the father of whose seed would begat the line of Christ, Genesis 3:16. And so the only reason why I belabor this point is because you need to know that you as a Christian, if you have been saved, gloriously saved, are an heir of Abraham. And this hope that is in the text is for you to be able to grab hold of and to be anchored in Christ. There's no reason for you not to be stable in Christ, seriously.

Some would be destabilized by a lack of knowledge, maybe they don't have access to the truth. Some may be destabilized through turmoil, tragedies, whatever, all kinds of different things. But there's no caveat here for us not to be stable in Christ. It's our job to hang on to the hope with all of your might, grab on to Christ. Even in the Bible you see odds against good men like Gideon, and yet God expecting Gideon to remain steadfast in hope in God. Gideon's army was reduced from thousands down to 300.

In Judges chapter 7 verse 2, God told Gideon to reduce his army, otherwise they would become boastful. In verse 3, "Tell those who are afraid to go home." And so you see 22,000 men then reduced to 10,000. Follow my train of thought. In verse 4, Judges chapter 7, the Lord said, "There's still too many." Okay, verse 5, "The test of those who would remain watchful while lapping up the water were suitable for battle." Only 300 remained watchful while they were drinking water. Those were the men whom God kept for His army. In verse 12 it states that the Midianites and the Moabites were without number. They're like locusts, like a locust plague, they're innumerable. Like sand on the sea, they're innumerable. Can you imagine 300 men against an innumerable army? And yet at the same time God required Gideon to remain steadfast in hope in God. And so in verse 28 Midian was subdued, there was a victory.

I bring that to your attention because God expected confidence from Gideon despite the odds. And so I'm asking you, have you lost hope because of maybe a loss of numbers? Have you lost hope because of maybe your bank account numbers have reduced? Let me do it in reverse. Have you gained hope because of an increase in numbers? Oh, how dangerous that is. Listen, our hope is found nothing less than Jesus Christ and His righteousness. God has proven Himself to you through these spiritual things, His deity, His plan, it does not change. And so now our hope is in Christ. And if we subject ourselves to the ways of the world, oh, let's count the numbers and see if we got some momentum here or let's count this, you know, prove it to us these ways. No, God has proven Himself through His deity and His plan. It's already done. That's where our confidence lies. And so our hope is in Christ.

Jeremiah chapter 14 and verse 22 says this, "We hope in you." Romans chapter 12 verse 12 says, "Rejoicing in hope and preserving and persevering in tribulation." Now, let me give you the sense of the text. Any good preacher is going to have the emphasis of the author in mind while he's preaching the text. The sense of the text, the driving force of this text is your stability in Jesus, your steadfastness in hope in Christ, your security in Christ, your confidence in Christ. Hebrews 4, 16 says, "Let us draw near with confidence." It's important for you to hold on to your confidence in Christ. Don't allow your heart to drift into any other means or methods for hope and confidence. Remain in this lane.

Well, sometimes we lack money, sometimes we lack health, sometimes we lose hope. And if you allow your heart to drift in those areas, then we are no better than those who believe the prosperity gospel or no better than those who pervert the covenant to Abraham or that misapplies all of these promises to physical blessings and not New Testament spiritual blessings. And so our hope, our courage, our steadfastness, our communion in Christ, these are all spiritual things. Listen, do not let your heart be troubled. John 14, verse 1, Jesus was talking to His disciples and He simply says to them, "While they are going through one of the trials of their life, you do not let your heart be troubled." That's not an Arminian message.

The personal responsibility that you have is to hang on to the hope and to be confident in Christ. What more does God need to do to prove Himself? And so our security is not money. Our security is in the immovable God. Psalm 39:7 says, "My hope is in you." And now we're secured by this hope and we're strengthened by this hope. I want you to know that this realm of hope, it's a spiritual realm. It's a reality. It's not a place that you go to. Sometimes it's wonderful to go to a place that's serene and to pray and get away with the Lord and spend some time there. But this realm of hope is a continuous spiritual reality.

In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 19, is talking about how we are God's household. In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 21, it talks about how we are a temple of the Lord. Okay? In Ephesians chapter 2, verse 22, is talking about how we are a dwelling of God in spirit. So this is a spiritual reality. You, like William Wurmbrand, could be imprisoned and tortured and still have confidence in Christ. It's a spiritual reality, not a physical thing. Do you see how sometimes we have allowed our hearts to drift and wander away from the hope in Christ because we have our hope in some things of the world?

And yes, we are human. We can be perverted. That's the reason why Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23 says, "Above all else guards your heart, for it's the wellspring of life." This is your job. Control what comes into your mind. Control what comes into your heart. Control the actions that flow from those two things. You need to be disciplined. Train yourself for the purposes of Godliness, 1 Timothy 4, 7b. This training, these disciplines, these are so indicative of your spiritual health or lack thereof. So this is a spiritual reality.

I'm going to be further substantiated with the idea from the text that the priesthood of Jesus demonstrated by Melchizedek in the text, he went into the veil, right, behind the veil. He was the forerunner, the text says, for this. And now we have this privilege of going straight into the holy presence of God. This is a spiritual reality now that is granted to us who are in Christ. In the Old Testament times, they didn't have that luxury. In New Testament times, we do. Galatians 2, 20 describes how to live is Christ. Is that not a spiritual reality? And then as well in Ephesians 5, 18, be filled with the Spirit. Is that not a spiritual reality? And then in Hebrews 10, 19, we have boldness to enter this sanctuary, this spiritual sanctuary.

It's amazing how God is consoling those who are without hope in this text, even to the point to where He makes an oath, an oath, an irrevocable oath. It cannot be rescinded. It's a guarantee. And He tells them after He gives them an oath that I can't lie. And so He makes a promise. And then He reveals to them these truths so that we can have strong encouragement in Him. I told you that I wanted you to circle the word imitate in verse 12. And it says to imitate those who through faith have been inherited the promises. Sometimes we need those who have gone before us and endured some trials as an example for us to imitate.

In Abraham's faith is worth imitating. And maybe you have someone more tangible and visible in your life that has gone through some trials that you too can imitate how they remain positive through pain and how they speak positively when everything around them is negative. Sometimes we ask of ourselves, I look at your circumstances and it's bad, and bad, and bad, and bad, and bad, but you're still alive in Christ. Imitate that person's faith. It's overwhelming to think of the life of Abraham and all that he went through and think, "How can I imitate this man's faith?" He is certainly our Father of faith, but I want to remind us all that he wasn't perfect. The man messed up several times. He told a half-truth, which was a whole lie about his wife, Sarai.

We need to remember that Abraham wasn't perfect. He faltered when it came to Hagar and Ishmael. This is actually comforting because God's promises to Abraham and how they apply to believers today do not necessitate our perfection. You don't have to be perfect. You don't have to earn God's blessings. You have to step into it by faith and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and do your absolute best to be patient. James 5:7 says, "Be patient." And some lessons that you can learn from this text is that God gives us time to contemplate His nature. God gives us time to be able to absorb who He is. Look at the span of Abraham's life and his promises.

And so the text lifts up the patience of Abraham, and at the same time how Abraham wasn't perfect. Isn't it comforting to know that our hiccups in life do not handcuff God? God is going to do what God purposes to do. No purposes of God can be thwarted. We have these sovereign promises, and so our hiccups, our mistakes do not handcuff God.

I'm going to give you a few take-home truths and we'll wrap up. And number one, repent of doubt. Repent of doubt. Your doubt grieves the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 says, "Do not grieve the Holy Spirit." When you have God who is all-powerful, all-mighty, all-knowing, all-sovereign, in control, and you doubt Him, that's displeasing to the Lord. Anything displeasing to the Lord is sinful. And so worrying and fretting and doubting and analyzing the odds rather than having faith in Christ, this grieves God. And so be one whom is pleasing to the Lord. Put yourself in Gideon's place. Even when the odds are against me in every single way, God's will will be done.

Have a positive faith and hope in Christ. It's not about you and your life, it's about Christ. I'm an heir of His promises and so His will will be done. No enemy can prosper against God's will. And so I'm just comforted in the fact that I'm a child of God and that His will is going to happen. And so we just do our best to be faithful and at the end of ourselves, God makes up the difference and makes sure that His will is accomplished. So repent of your doubt. We don't have confidence in numbers. We don't have confidence in worldly means at all. It's displeasing to the Lord. It's a lack of faith.

I would say as well, it's obvious in the text, take hold of hope. Okay, take hold of hope. In verses 18 and 19, it's just the emphasis of the text here to have strong encouragement and to take hold of hopes set before us. And this hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast. Be steadfast, 1 Corinthians 15:58. So our confidence then is in Christ. Sometimes we lose confidence when we get out of our lane. So point number three, I would say confidently remain in your lane. God has a giftedness that He has given you and He has providentially opened doors for your life.

Colossians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4 talk about how God opens doors. And if He has opened the door for you in your life and you've walked through that and you're energized and you are effective in this area, that is your lane. Okay, remain in your lane. When we get out of our lane and we start worrying about what other people are doing, we get deflated and hopelessness sets in. And I've seen that in the local church throughout the years, how sometimes good intentions from saints who will worry about other saints in their job and their role or their part of the church, they start worrying and fretting. It's displeasing to the Lord. Is God not control of His church? He says, "I will grow my church. I will build my church." And so we don't worry. We just bless the Portuguese congregation. We don't worry about the Spanish congregation. We bless them.

We do everything we can for them. We don't worry about the guys that are mowing. We don't worry about these things. We pray and participate to the best of our ability. We don't worry. It grieves the Lord. So don't worry about somebody else's lane. I wasn't worried at all when the guys were on the scissor lift replacing the TV. It's God's will for whatever happens. Don't fall. I'm going to help the best I can. I'm not worried. You see the difference? We're not grieving the Spirit of God through doubting His people. And so we breathe confidence into these lanes. So remain in your lane. Don't lose hope in that way. It's important.

I would also say that life in Christ is the result. In verses 19 and 20, there is life in Christ. If you take hold of this hope, this is not a deflated life. This is life in Christ. This is life. Verses 19 and 20 is talking about this amazing hope that is founded the Christ who said, "Rejoice in the Lord." And again, I say, "Rejoice." So this is a message of hope that results in life. It's not just a ground-based, steadfast hope, "I'm in first gear. I'm just getting through the days." Sometimes we have seasons in life where we just have to put it in first gear and get through seasons. I understand that, but that leads to life.

In Psalm 1:3, the Bible says, "He shall be like a tree." This metaphor of you like a tree. A tree has seasons. There's a dormant season. There's a growth season. There's a fruit-bearing season. There's a pruning season. There's seasons in life. And so your consistency in Christ will lead to growth, and it will lead to bearing fruit. And this is life more abundant and free. John chapter 15, "Abide in the vine," the whole lesson there, and he prunes the vines so that they'll bear more fruit, more grapes, flowers. You prune the plant, it'll bear more flowers. The same thing with fruit-bearing trees. You prune them, they bear more fruit. Our life is like that. And so being disciplined in these areas over a period of time, like the life of Abraham, being patient, being consistent, these things lead you to life in Christ, not drudgery, not defeatedness. These lead you to a wonderful life in the Lord.

And so I would end on this note, and I want to place a lot of emphasis in this area. My last take-home truth is this. Switch to scriptural offense. If you're in a realm of hopelessness and any type of defeatedness or depression or whatever, switch to spiritual offense, okay? And here's what I mean by that. If you're low on hope, switch to the offensive strategy. Don't be defensive. And here is how you can switch to a posture of offense. Just some advice. Take some note cards and start memorizing scripture on hope and confidence and steadfastness. Keep them in your pocket. Keep them with you while you're driving down the road. Keep them on your phone. Keep them before you regularly. Review them when you wake up and when you go to sleep. That's where you really remember things when you review them morning and night. That helps to stay in the mind. So review, review, review, repetition, memorize these things.

Also, I would say not only memorizing scripture about hope and confidence and steadfastness, you need to engage in the local church every time the doors are open. God has ingredients that He has custom designed in the local church to worship Him and to take care of you. And so when you think of Acts chapter 2 verse 42, you think of these wonderful ingredients that tied straight to your needs. Everything you need will be taken care of through the apostles teaching, the worship, the fellowship of the brethren, corporate prayer, ordinances, and giving. These things as Acts chapter 2 unfold, they are custom designed to keep you out of AA, custom designed to keep you out of depression, custom designed to keep you thriving in Christ. These are the things that you need more of and so reduce everything else and increase no matter what the price is to get to these things.

I'm telling you, the ones who are dedicated, like devoted to these things, I see their lives over time gradually increase in the Lord. And it's wonderful to see this type of fruit being bared. So engage in the local church. Another tip when it comes to switching to offense would be to discipline your mind. Did you know that you're not allowed to think about whatever you want to think about? Philippians 4 gives you the things that you're allowed to think about. It's kind of known as the mental health verse of the Bible. It says, "Think on these things or dwell on these things." And so that goes without saying, but I'll say it, stop thinking about the wrong things. And so think and dwell upon the right things. That's offensive strategies here.

And then as well, did you know that you're not to respond to your feelings, but you are to instruct the heart? Write that down. Instruct the heart. Tell your heart what it is to be feeling based upon the Word of God. You delight yourself in the Lord. Truly delight. Where does delight come from? The heart. Delight yourself. So choose to delight yourself in the law in the Word of God. Delight yourself in the local church. Delight yourself in the fellowship of the brethren and the sisterhood. Delight yourself in prayer. Put your sense of celebration and your sense of enjoyment in the things of God. And I guarantee you SSRI pills will go down and life in Christ will go up. I guarantee you therapy goes down and life in Christ goes up.

Biblical counseling goes down, which by the way, in therapy and psychology is like in a way secular parallel. I don't recommend this. But biblical counseling is good. Get some biblical counseling and they will reaffirm everything that I just simply said to you, because I'm just doing biblical counseling at this point for you to be able to get to hope in Christ. Instruct your heart. Delight yourself in the Lord. And then I think too you can remember the Old Testament victories despite the impossibilities. That's a good way to be able to ground your hope in Christ and His sovereignty. Just review all the impossibilities. Elijah going against the prophets of Baal. He won. It was God's will. Praise God. The same thing for Gideon. It's not always God's will for us to win, but when we have our hope in Him, we're steadfast and we're solid.

Think of Daniel and the lion's den. These impossibilities overcome. It's incredible. And the last things for you to be able to switch to spiritual offense is just to remember this in life. It's a truism through and through when it comes to the Bible. Testing before the blessing. All right. Just remember that. When God works in like in Abraham's life, He's going to test you before He blesses you. That's just the way the Lord does it. And so should we with our children, disciple them and discipline them and even give them tests. Strain their minds forward in Christ. Strain their hearts. We're there for them when they fall down. And so is God. He is pulling and straining and developing and conforming us. Testing that is how God works in our lives.

This is how this text is helping to drive home the idea of being anchored in Christ and Christ is the anchor for our soul. Let's pray together. Lord, thank you so much for this message today for anyone who perhaps is a little low on hope, a little low on life in you. I pray God that you would revitalize their heart and their spirit and to where they are able to walk in the fullness of your glory. Help them to perhaps go forward from this day to analyze Ephesians chapter five verse 18 and following through the rest of the chapter and what it is to be filled with the spirit, to be able to speak forth your word, to sing about you and your word, to have fellowship with the brethren. It overflows in worship. God, we do love you. We thank you for your blessings upon us. Help us to yield to you in every way.

If one here has not been saved, God would you by the power of your Holy Spirit, draw that lost soul close to you. Grant them repentance. Give them the boldness to confess you as Lord and Savior. May they draw closer to you as you draw them closer. God, I pray that they would be saved, gloriously saved, and that they would continue in their faith to be biblically baptized. Join the church and belong to a Bible believing church, if not this one, another Bible believing church to learn how to study your word and then also make disciples. God, we pray this in Jesus' capable and wonderful name. Amen.