God Made a Promise!

Continuing on in Hebrews 6, Pastor David (on July 15) finished that chapter by stressing the assurance that God provides.

To introduce the topic, he quoted Romans 15:4: For whatever was written in former days (the OT) was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.

And now to the passage:

13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” 15 And thus Abraham, [2] having patiently waited, obtained the promise. 16 For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. 17 So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 18 so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. 19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.

God uses the Scriptures to encourage His people, and what a better example to point back to than Abraham (vv. 13-15)! We are to patiently wait for the salvation of the Lord, just as Abraham did on the mountain as he was about to sacrifice Isaac. Why is this significant?

Notice in Genesis 22 that Abraham doesn't merely think that God will provide, but KNOWS he will since Abraham is willing to sacrifice his son: Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.”

Our pastor stated something, and I thought this was great: "Truth properly understood can give encouragement, and enable us to live our life." Focus on the first part of that: Truth PROPERLY understood. I can look outside and see that it's raining but if I don't have an understanding or make the connection that I will get soaked unless I wear a coat or grab an umbrella, the knowledge that it's raining will not help me.

Similarly, our faith grows by the power of the Holy Spirit helping us to understand the Word--our study of God's Word to us increases our understanding of who God is, and can follow this progression:

ASSURANCE--> PERSEVERANCE --> HOPE

Biblical instruction in the church is an instrument of God to lead to encouragement of the body of Christ. If we are strong in Scripture, we can be strong in hope.

So after describing this example, Pastor David then moves to how God brings about such assurance. God swears by His name and in doing so, He shows us two things:

1. That in swearing by His name, God gave His promise an especially solemn character.(v. 16)
I have been reading in Isaiah over the past month or so, and in the last 10 or so chapters that I have read (Ch. 40-50), I have been overwhelmed by the glory of God that is proclaimed by the LORD Himself:

Isaiah 42:8: I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other,
nor my praise to carved idols.

Isaiah 43:25: I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.

There are many other examples--but note on the second verse I mentioned--he blotted out our transgressions for HIS OWN SAKE. Many other examples of Scripture point to the fact that God does things for Israel and His people for His name's sake, because His holiness, righteousness, and might are not to be trifled with and if He states that a people will be redeemed, they will BE redeemed, and there is nothing that ANYONE OR ANYTHING can do to undo that promise.

2. That as a result of this, in God swearing by His name, we are to be encouraged!(vv. 17-18)

We are to hold to this strong promise of God and know that He will accomplish the work that He began in us, and will bring it to its end.

Last, Pastor David closed with a wonderful illustration that shows how God is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (vv. 19-20):

Cargo ships coming into the bay would oftentimes have to wait for the high tide because there were often sandbars that would prevent them from coming all the way into the bay and making them unable to set anchor. However, over time, smaller boats were made to come out to the cargo ships to bring them into the harbor and help set their anchor. Similarly, Christ comes out to us, anchoring us with the Word and His Spirit as we live this life--He does so through His person and His life lived on this earth in spreading His Gospel.

Go forth and be encouraged in the certainty of salvation which has been vested in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are all beneficiaries of His work!