Hope: Anchor of the Soul
Hope: Anchor of the Soul
Introduction:
1. Heavenly Hope is largely
lost in today's society concerned with sensualism, secularism, and
sensationalism.
2. The one hope of Ephesians 4:4 is lost in this menagerie of confusion.
3. Hope is taught to us in
the OT.
a. ( Psa 119:81) CAPH. My soul fainteth for thy salvation: but I hope in thy word.
b. ( Psa 119:114) Thou art
my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.
4. Hope reveals precious
words on hope.
a.
Act 26:6-7
And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God
unto our fathers: (7) Unto which
promise our twelve tribes, instantly
serving God day and night, hope to come.
For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
b.
Rom 8:24-25
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a
man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? (25) But if we
hope for that we see not, then do we
with patience wait for it.
5. Hope exists within a
truthful triad conjoined with faith and love.
6. Jesus spoke of love,
faith in the Father and Son, and the hallowed hope of our heavenly mansions.
7. 1 Corinthians 13:12
refer to faith, hope and love with love being the greatest of this truthful triad.
8. The Biblical use of
hope is not relative to past and present tenses; but the term is used in the
future tense.
a.
Paul states we hope for what we do not possess and what we currently have is
not a matter of hope.
b.
Rom 8:24
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a
man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
I)
Hope is grounded by two immutable things.
A)
Immutable means never changing or varying; unchangeable.
1. Mal 3:6 For I am
the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
2. Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today and forever.
3. The Holy Spirit is just
as unchanging as the other persons of the Godhead.
B)
Two immutable things make impossible for God to lie.
1. They center upon His
Promises and His Oath.
a. His promise concerns the
second coming of His Only Begotten Son and we know he not slack concerning this
promise.
b. The Only Begotten Son of
God, Jesus, was the PROMISED redemption and blood sacrifice for all mankind.
2. The God of truth will not
and cannot lie.
a. God's promise is a
declaration binding Him to redeem man.
b. God's oath confirms the
authority of His power to fulfill his promise.
c. God has already sent
Christ as confirmation of His promise and fulfillment of His oath to man; thus
has not lied.
d. With both of these man
has a DOUBLE ASSURANCE that God would do as He said.
3. In Christ we have the
fullness of confidence in the refuge stronger more secure than any city of
refuge possessed by the nation of Israel.
C)
Hope is a kingly word for the Christian serving as a anchor of the
soul.
1. An anchor of a ship went
down into the water to keep the ship from drifting and for the purpose of
security.
2. An anchor of the soul
goes up to heaven both steadfast and sure.
a. Gal 5:1-4 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage. (2) Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be
circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing.
(3)
For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is a
debtor to do the whole law. (4) Christ is
become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are
fallen from grace.
b. A return to Judaism by
the Hebrews, to whom Paul is writing, meant a forfeiture of salvation and forgiveness
of God.
c. Willful sin was an
abandonment of Christ, their only means of pardon.
3. We cannot be in doubt of
the anchor of our soul.
a. It is found in heaven for
a surety.
b. Jesus has been in Heaven
at the right hand of the Father since Pentacost, A.D. 33.
(i) Act 2:33 Therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he
hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
(ii) He is there reigning with
majesty on the throne of David.
4. Christ is our high
priest.
a. He is a priest after the
order of Melchisedec.
(i) This not after the
Aaronic or Levitical order.
(ii) Melchisedec was King of
Salem and priest of the Lord. ( Genesis 14).
b. After purging our sins,
His priestly role, he sat down on the right hand of God, His kingly role.
II) Hope is centered in
Christ
A)
Hope cannot be found in the fickleness of man's imaginations of the
Hebrews.
1. Hope is not found in
Abraham or circumcision.
2. Hope is not found in
Moses and Judaism.
3. Too many seek hope in
Catholicism, Protestantism, cultism, premillinnialism, Islam, Hinduism,
Buddhism, yoga, and varieties of Transcendental meditation.
4. Look at what the emphasis
of these false religions is placed.
5. Their hope is in the life
of a man, second chances, man's imaginations, spirituality, false gods, and
transcendence.
6. We should be amazed at
the lack of understanding about true hope.
B)
Hope is an anchor immutable based upon the promise of God and the oath
of God found ONLY in Christ.
1. Because Christ is in
heaven we have this hope.
a. Christ is our high priest
and has purged our sins.
b. Christ is our king and
provided our kingdom.
c. Our kingdom offers us a
new birth as we find salvation in that kingdom.
2. Christ prophecies that
hope and thus is a prophet fulfilling the promises of God.
a. No prophecy said that
Moses would enter the veil of the Most Holy Place in the Temple of God.
b. No prophecy has claim
that man has the authority or power to purge our sins.
c. No prophecy has allowed
for some spiritual transcendence to place anyone on the right hand of God
3. Only in Christianity we
have the anchor of the soul, HOPE in Christ.
C)
Christ is in you, the hope of glory ( Colossians 1:27).
1. But He is not in us
unless we are in Him.
2. We are not in Him unless
we have been baptized into Him and are continuing to walk in the light (Word of
God) as He is in the light.
3. 1Jn 1:7-10 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the
light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his
Son cleanseth us from all sin. (8) If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (10) If we say
that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
III) Hope is exalted and
extolled.
A)
Abraham exalted Biblical hope when he looked for a city with a
foundation and builder being God.
B)
David extolled Hope when he entreated God to allow him to dwell in the
house of the Lord forever.
C)
Jesus exalted God's hope when He spoke of the heavenly home filled
with many mansions.
D)
Paul's speaking about receiving the crown of righteousness in the last
day extols and exalts the anchor of our soul; hope.
E)
Peter did this we had identifies and undefiled, unwavering, reserved
inheritance.
F)
John on the isle of Patmos exalted and extolled hope when he penned
the panoramic vision of God's city four square made with streets of gold and
pearly gates.
Conclusion:
1. The one hope of Jesus
Christ is the anchor of the soul.
2. It is steadfast and
sure in uniting us with our heavenly rewards.
3. Our hope reaches up to
heaven and connects us with the Immutable God who has promised and given his
oath that we who are faithful will be saved.
Posted in: Hope, Sermon Outlines