A PROMISE YOU CAN COUNT ON
Hebrews 6:9-20
We live in an age of broken promises.
People promise to be faithful “till death do us part!”
5 yrs later, when spark dies, we lay the promise aside, hoping to find something better.
People sign contracts they never intend to keep. Words become meaningless.
However unfaithful people may be, there’s Someone we can always count on.
Even though we know we can count on God to keep His promises,
it doesn’t always feel that way.
Swindoll, Stress Fractures: 3 times that doubts creep in to haunt us
because it doesn’t feel like God is keeping His promise:
1. God surprises me by saying yes, when I expect Him to say no.
When things I believe should never happen occur.
When Bad Things Happen to God’s People
2. God says no, when I expect God to say yes.
When things I believe should happen don’t occur.
When people trust God for a cure, but God says no.
3. God keeps us waiting much longer than we expect.
When things I believe should happen now occur much, much later.
Hebrew believers in 1st C. were struggling with such doubts.
They knew God keeps His promise, that we can trust Him to protect us.
But these 3 causes for doubt kept cropping up.
What do we do when trusting God doesn’t “work?”
We’ve missed the point of what trusting Him in the dark is all about.
We have OUR idea of how it ought to work; God’s plan doesn’t agree with mine.
OUR INABILITY TO UNDERSTAND 5:11-6:20
Hebrews directs our attention to reasons we should trust God and hang on to Jesus,
rather than throw in the towel and go back to Judaism.
He interrupts His teaching to point out the problem of trying to explain this doctrine because we aren’t able to understand . . . What God says. What God is doing.
The problem 5:11-14
While they’ve believed long enough to be teachers, the basics penetrate their minds,
but they’re not applying the truth they’ve heard in their daily lives.
We need exercise (practice) to get our spiritual muscles in shape.
The exhortation 6:1-3 He urges us to grow up.
—to leave baby food and start developing muscles,
—to start working on solid food—tough steak that builds strong bodies,
The explanation 6:4-8
Faced with adversity, we must learn to trust God and keep walking,
even when we can’t understand what He’s doing.
They should keep moving forward--not turn back to Judaism
They would be identifying with the generation that rejected and crucified Jesus.
They would face the judgment coming against that condemned generation.
He urges us to keep moving on in the same direction.
God will keep His promises, if we patiently wait on Him. 6:9-20
CONFIDENCE BASED ON THE PAST 6:9-10
After issuing this severe warning, he expresses confidence in them.
He warns them of the risks, but he doesn’t expect them to fall into that trap.
They’ve been faithful in the past;
He’s sure they’ll continue to trust God and remain faithful in the future.
They’ve given plenty of reason to believe they have the real thing.
He expects them to exhibit fruit that’s consistent with salvation.
God isn’t going to forget the evidence already seen that we’re His.
Their work and love, their past and ongoing service, witness to the reality of their faith.
EXHORTATION TO PERSEVERE 6:11-12
There’s a tendency, in adversity, to give up, to take the path of least resistance.
Don’t take the easy way out!
Take a stand for truth, while waiting on God to accomplish His work.
Be diligent in our work and in our love for others, as we wait on God
That’s what those who through faith and patience inherited the promises did.
Imitate those who trust God and wait patiently.
Follow the example of the faithful who’ve gone before us.
They bear witness that it’s worth waiting for!
GOD’S FAITHFULNESS ASSURED 13-20
The illustration from Abraham 6:13-15
Abraham and Sarah had been married a long time. She was 65; he was 75.
God makes a promise–though they have no children.
God promises that Sarah will have a son.
Then comes the hard part! God tells them to trust Him—then wait ..., and wait ....
A year passed. Then 10. Then 10 more. Nothing happens.
“Maybe we misunderstood the message?!!!”
When Abraham reaches 100, and Sarah 90, God repeats the promise.
“Now, trust me! And wait again!” This was a bit too much!
Abraham trusts God, and waits patiently.
Then God keeps His promise!—after Abraham waits patiently!
A long time passes before he sees evidence that God’s doing what He promised.
Nevertheless the issue was settled by the promise God made.
God’s blessing comes to those who trust Him and wait patiently!
The Principle of the Oath 6:16-17
God affirms His promise with an oath in Gen. 22:15-18.
When people take oaths, they swear by someone greater.
Our oath is our guarantee that we’ll fulfill what we promised.
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
In a society that accepts the reality of God, that oath assures that we’ll tell the truth.
Who does God swear by? Who is greater than Him?
God can’t swear by someone greater! There’s no one greater to swear by!
So He swears by Himself.
God’s integrity is His guarantee! That’s enough! Nothing could be surer!
God always keeps His promise. It’s impossible for Him to lie.
The certainty of the promise
TWO UNCHANGEABLE GUARANTEES: 6:18
God’s unchangeable purpose: to bless His people.
God’s unchangeable promise (His oath)—based on His Word.
Because of this unchangeable basis for hope, we can handle hard times.
We have an absolute guarantee.
Paul tells us “this hope never disappoints!”
The One who cannot lie has given us His personal guarantee.
That ought to encourage us when we try to hang on in the midst of a storm!
The implication for us 6:19-20
We have a hope as our anchor.
If it worked for Abraham, it will work for us. God is still faithful.
We can trust Him in our storm. This hope is OUR anchor too!
Our certainty is permanently located in God’s presence– behind the veil, in the Holy of Holies–which takes us back to the truth we were talking about before:
Now we can see why this truth is so important!
We have a High Priest, Who serves in God’s presence, on our behalf.
He’s our guarantee!
Our High Priest is in God’s throne room.
Since He’s there, we have an anchor. It’s firm. It’s secure.
We’re safe, as long as He’s there. And He is there forever, as our High Priest.
All we have to do is trust Him—and wait!
David Needham, Close to His Majesty: describes Bonneville Dam:
Once I took a tour deep inside where gigantic generators sit sedately in a long line. I couldn’t see any movement! ... no thunderous roars or mechanical screams. Just a steady rhythmic hum.” “I thought ‘... What about when the Columbia is brown and swollen with storm water.’“That thought came back one winter night as I drove down the gorge during one of the worst storms I can remember. Icy east wind had been blowing for two weeks; piled up massive chunks of ice in the reservoir. Millions of gallons thundered over the spillways.”
“Power crews worked frantically to maintain service to over a million people depending on the current. Ice-laden wires would snap, exploding nearby transformers in bursts of eerie, blue lightning. It was a dramatic, suspenseful night.” “But up the river ... what was it like deep in the concrete bowels of Bonneville Dam, down where the generators were? Was it dramatic and suspenseful there? Not a bit. Even at the peak of the storm! They were made for this. No stress, no strain, no frantic scurrying about. . . .”
“I’ve thought often of that night, especially during times of my own inner storms ... nights when I could not sleep ... nights when churning clouds of problems seemed too big to handle ... nights when surging fears drenched all hope. How could God dispel the darkness?
“If only in times like these we could pause long enough to imagine ourselves at the power source—the throne room of our omnipotent God. What would we see? No stress, no strain, no frantic scurrying about there. We would see that all is well. “
What’s God’s part of the process?
* God doesn’t forget our work and our love 10
* God keeps His promise 13-18
* God blesses those who trust Him 14
What’s our part of the process?
* Keep up the good work—Continue our faithful service. 9-10
* Be diligent to the end. 11
* Don’t take the easy way out. 12a
* Imitate those who remained faithful and inherited the promise. 12b
* Flee to our refuge. 18a
* Hang on to our hope 18b
* Trust our anchor 19
When we find ourselves on stormy seas,
we focus on the wind and the waves rather than on the Lord.
Like Peter, we look the wrong way. God says, “Trust the anchor I’ve provided!”
So, how do we respond when faced with those nagging doubts?...
* When God says yes to what we thought He would say no to?
* When He says no to what we were sure He would say yes to?
* Or, when He says, “Wait, wait, wait, ...”?
Are we learning that God, who can’t lie, has plans to bless us?
11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, ‘‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer. 29:11
Follow Abraham’s example: WAIT PATIENTLY!
Keep trusting God. He won’t fail us and He can’t lie!
THAT’S an anchor we can trust to hold us in any storm!
When the bottom drops out of our life,
when hope begins to wear thin,
go back to the basic truth of Heb. 6:
REMEMBER 3 things:
1) God’s unchangeable purpose is to bless His people
2) God’s unchangeable oath guarantees the fulfillment of His purpose
3) Our part is to trust God, and WAIT on Him!
In His time, in His time,
He makes all things beautiful in His time,
Lord, please show me every day,
As you’re teaching me your way,
that you do just what you say,
In Your time.