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You Need an Anchor

Discussion Questions

1) In what ways do you see people struggling to trust God and His Word today? How are you personally struggling to trust God’s Word?

2) How does this passage help to reassure you that God can be trusted completely?

3) How are you doing in waiting patiently on the LORD? What would waiting patiently look like in the week ahead for you?


Sermon Outline

Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-20

I. You need an anchor because you struggle with doubting God’s promises.

A. The author of Hebrews gives us the example of Abraham (vs. 13) from the book of Genesis as
someone who was tempted to doubt God’s promises. In Genesis 12:1-3 we see three great
promises God had made to Abraham: “Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your
country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name
great, so that you will be a blessing.   I will bless those who bless you, and him
who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be
blessed.”

B. If you were Abraham, what would have been going through your mind when you received the
command to sacrifice your son Isaac in Genesis 22? He would have doubted God’s goodness.
And he would have doubted that Isaac’s descendants would become a mighty nation. But
Abraham continued to trust that God would keep His promises. And God did keep those
promises to Abraham. And He will keep His promises to you.

II. But you have great reasons to trust His promises.

A. The first reason to trust God’s promises is that God backs up His great promise to take us to
the Promised Land of heaven with an oath (vs. 17). Second, we can trust God’s promises because
of God’s character. Verse 18 reminds us “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.” God does not lie. If God ever lied, He would at that moment cease
to be God. God cannot lie. It’s impossible for Him to do that. God always keeps His Word.

B. There is a third reason that we can trust God’s promises: God has given us His Son Jesus.
Verse 19 says that we have a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain. On Good
Friday when Jesus died on the cross the thick, heavy curtain in the temple that separated people
from the holy of holies where God’s presence was symbolized was torn in two. The tearing of
that curtain said that we as Christians now have complete and open access to God. Our sins no
longer separate us from God. Whenever we are in trouble in this life, we can ask God for help.

III. So be encouraged to hold fast to the anchor of your hope.

A. The world will tell you it is foolish to hold fast to God’s promises. In verse 15, we read, “And
this Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise.” How long did Abraham have to
wait before God kept His promise? 25 years. God will not keep His promises on our timetable.
He will keep His promises according to His perfect timing. Who are the heirs of the promise God
made to Abraham (vs. 17)? You. God promised to multiply Isaac’s descendants into a great
nation. And God has promised to the church that we will multiply until one day in heaven we
will see according to Revelation 7:9-10: “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and
before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out
with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Application: Hold fast to the hope set before us (vs. 18). Look forward to the day you will be with Christ.
Sources: The letter to the Hebrews
Commentaries on Hebrews by Tom Schreiner and Raymond Brown
Bible study on Hebrews by Michael Kruger