Security is a big deal, the bigger the stakes, the bigger the security. If you're a celebrity, you typically have a security team or detail that goes with you. If you think about a political figure like the president of the United States, multiple vehicles, multiple teams all to protect, but you don't have to be the president or a celebrity to value security. In fact, when you sign into an account these days online, for example, if you sign into your bank account, it's probably gonna ask you for a two step verification. So step one, you have your user name and password, but then step two, they will send a code to your device to which then you have to enter that code to prove that it's you. Well, today is gonna be a two step verification of the deity of Jesus, of the value of God because we wanna know that he is who he says he is. Your identity is important and to prove your identity is even more important. For example, online dating is so common that now they say 30% of American adults have tried online dating in some capacity and there are now, 2500 different dating apps or websites that are out there. And so it's common practice. And so they asked the men and women, um you know, what is your greatest fear on there? And so the greatest fear for um a woman is that the person is a serial killer. So that's what they said. And then for the guys, they said their greatest fear is that the female will not look like their picture. So it is true. If you, if you've talked to people before, they, they talk online, it's a great connection. You're like, ok, is this person real? And then you show up and you see the person and you see the photo and you look at it like that doesn't match. OK. Now, I wonder how many people are kind of experiencing a little bit of religion, online dating or religion in Christianity dating. And so they're, they're, they're, you know, swiping in a little bit like they're, they're interested in Christianity, they're interested in who this God figure is, but they want to see if the God of the Bible matches up with what they're hearing. And so I invite you to join us in this journey because we're gonna talk about the identity of God today and we're gonna talk about a greater topic, a, a larger topic of how to find security, how to find security because we do live in a dark and in a dangerous world. And So it makes sense that when it comes to religion that we wanna feel secure in who we are and who God is. Now, before we jump into our passage for today, I wanna add a little bit of a transition passage from last week. So last week, we asked the question is God approachable. And what we found through Hebrews four through seven is that yes, God is approachable. And it's because of the grace of God, because of who Jesus is and what he did that we now have direct access to him. We talked about this high priest figure named Melchizedek. Now Melchizedek is gonna make a little cameo at the end of this morning's message. But the short version of what we talked about last week is that he was this figure from the Old Testament who was a high priest who was responsible for restoring the relationship between man and God. And so the writer of Hebrews was then writing to a Jewish audience and said that Jesus is greater than me, Melchizedek. And that Jesus is the great high priest that he himself was the sacrifice. And that we talk about in scripture that when Jesus died on the cross, the literal veil that separated rooms in the temple from the holy of Holies tore into giving us direct access to him. And so in the middle of this passage, talking about the approachability of God, we have this incredible promise. And so we're the promise is found in verses 13 to 20. But let's set this up and look at the transitional passage here found in verses 11 and 12, verse 11 of Hebrews chapter six, it says, and we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end. So that idea of full assurance, this is where we get our confidence or our security. So how to find security. We're gonna learn that today. And so it says I'm writing this so that you have security of hope until the end verse 12. So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises of God. Isn't it? Isn't it interesting that when you have security, it actually leads to action, right? When you know who God is, when you know who you are, you then know what to do and you take action and maybe you've been on the flip side when you felt unsettled, when you felt overwhelmed or stressed out that the next thing you find yourself doing is scrolling your phone or binging Netflix, right? You have a a to do list a mile long. But instead of going through that, you feel overwhelmed and you end up acting sluggishly and you can't move and you feel a little bit paralyzed either emotionally or physically. So you just do something mindless to pass the time. And so the writer here is saying, I don't want you to be that way. I want you to activate your life because you have security and confidence of hope. And so he, he's gonna go on to give us this incredible picture that's well known within the Christian world. And so chances are once we read it, you will think of an Instagram quote or a coffee mug or maybe someone has a crocheted blanket or would go as far as place a tattoo somewhere on it. And the author is gonna give this picture of an anchor for your soul, an anchor for your soul. And what, what I learned this week or was reminded of this week is that it's not simply the anchor that matters but the anchor and the rope. Because if you have just an anchor and no rope, you're not gonna feel secure. Imagine being on a boat and, and the waters are choppy and you drop the anchor in, but it doesn't have a rope attached. In which case you just lost an anchor, right? It does no good. And so if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down today that in the storms of life, remember that our hope is the anchor and our faith is the rope. Our hope is the anchor and then our faith is the rope and that you need both to find security in Christ. Now, before we jump into our passage together, let's give some practical definitions for these words. First, I would define hope as the confident expectation that God will do what he promised. We use the word hope just all over the place. For example, like I was hoping that Ohio State would win. But really what that means is like I was wishing that they would win. Like I had no skin in the game. I had no influence on the coaching or the players. I wasn't even in attendance. I was watching it in the lobby of the gymnasium while my kid was playing basketball, me and one other Ohio State fan screaming in the lobby as they barely crossed the, the end zone, their last play of the game. And we're like, yeah, like so I was wishing for that hope is deeper because it's rooted in the expectation of a promise. So there's a relational component there and then faith, we'll take our definition from actually the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 11 verse one. And it actually is defined in the verse itself that says faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. And so what you're gonna see through a series of passages today is that faith and hope are connected. Hope is the anchor. Faith is the rope. Ok? Because it's not just about how much you believe, but the object of your belief. We lived in Florida for a number of years. I've shared this with some of you before, but we would go to the different theme parks. I tell you a, a great and underrated park in the Orlando World is Seaworld. You wouldn't think they have great roller coasters. But it's actually pretty awesome. And so we would go, we would take the kids and it was a lot of fun. We were little and, and so we would go and this was pre like scandal Seaworld. Right. So they set all the animals out and they were doing shows and people were in the water with the animals and they always had a theme, right? And so you would go and the theme that year that we went was believe and they would go and they get the whole crowd like thousands of people to chant and they would go like jam jam Sham sham. And so like everyone's chanting and then the whale would come out of the water and would send somebody up in the air and everyone's clapping and it's majestic and then someone would come over the mic just believe. And it was like, wow. And then my skeptical self is like, in what? Because they wouldn't actually say anything. It was just like, please. And I was like, how does that, how does that help anybody? Like the animals are cool and some people got splashed with water. But like, can you imagine if you take that same approach? Like that week, we go home and have like a financial budget discussion. And my wife is just like, honey, I don't know how we're gonna pay bills this week. It's like it's ok. I got you believe like it just looks silly. Right? Because it's not the belief itself as much as it is the object of your belief in your faith. Now, if I had doubt that this stage would hold me and I was shaky and I was nervous. All I would have to do to prove the validity of this stage is to take a step. And let's say I was, I don't know, 50% confident, maybe 10% confident. The stage is still gonna hold. Why? Because it's the object of belief more than is the amount of the belief. But you do have to have the belief and show that. And so you have hope that is where the eager expectation, the confidence lies and the hope is Jesus himself. And then you have the faith that is the rope that ties you to that hope. Does that make sense? And so we're gonna see this, that the, the writer actually is gonna quote uh or reference a story in the Old Testament about God fulfilling his promises to Abraham. Now he promises to Abraham to make him a father of many nations to leave his homeland to go, that he's gonna give him a son and that through his lineage, he would populate the world, really the people of Israel, the people of God and ultimately the heirs uh that would then extend to us. And we're gonna see that in a, in a minute. But so God makes his promise to Abraham. He makes it over and over again. It's found in Genesis 12, 2, Genesis 13 6, Genesis 15 5, chapter 17, verse four, chapter 18, verse 18, chapter 22 verses 16 and 17. And so here's the story is that Abraham gets promised a son, but he's old, like he's old and, and he doesn't want to say it, but his wife is old too and he's like, there's no way this is happening. Now. People in the Old Testament before Disea, there were more disease than before certain, you know, physical factors that came into play. People tended to live actually longer in the early biblical days. And so he was like, yeah, but even in this, we're old, like it's not happening. But he waits about 25 years and eventually is actually given a son. They give birth to Isaac. But then God challenges the gift and says, no, you actually gonna have to sacrifice Isaac. And so I think the reason for that is that because it was the gift of God. God wanted to make sure that it wasn't, wouldn't become an idol himself. And so Abraham believes that God would provide that God would save his son, but was obedient and willing and showed it through faith. His willingness to sacrifice Isaac. But in the last moment, God tells him to stop, provides him with a lamb as a picture, a future picture. Then of the gospel that Jesus, it ultimately is the lamb that is sacrificed as payment for your sins and for mine. And so there's this great story in the Old Testament that's told throughout time through Jewish history, through Chris uh Christianity and through uh religious histories. And so the writer in Hebrews is gonna make mention of that. But let me actually highlight another passage that highlights the same story because you're gonna see the connection once more between hope and faith. It's found in Romans chapter four verses 18 to 21 says against all hope. So when everything looked bad, Abraham in hope, believed. So what do you believe in? He believed in the promises of God or he believed in the hope that comes from God? He believed and became the father of many nations just as it had been said to him. So shall your offspring be without weakening his faith? He faced the fact that his body was as good as dead since he was about 100 years old. And that Sarah's womb was also dead. He said yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith. So there you have it, you have hope and then you have faith. Hope is the anchor. Faith is the rope. It says you strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God. And I love this. If you need a secondary definition for faith, I would mark this down. Romans 421 that being fully persuaded that God had the power to do what he had promised. What does it mean to have faith? It means to live in a way to live convinced that God's promises are true. Do you live that demonstrates your belief in God? Do you walk in a way? Do you talk in a way that demonstrates that you believe in the promises of God, right? All that to set up our passage today. Let's pick it up. He Hebrews chapter six verse 13 for when God made a promise to Abraham since he had no one greater by whom to swear, swore by himself. Now pause there, this is such a cool verse that you will not realize is a cool verse. Unless you pause to reflect on what it actually says. I don't know if you've done this. I've done this before. Uh being a pastor for a number of years and a Christian even longer that sometimes you read verses like, yeah, yeah, cool. Ok. Get me to the bumper sticker verse, right? Something I can say like give me to the anchor for the soul. Like I get that one right? Cool picture. But let me read this again and then tell you how cool this really is. If you stop to think about it. For when God made a promise to Abraham since he had no one greater by whom to swear. He swore by himself. Think about this for a second with me. Why do people swear, not cuss words but swear as in to a higher power? Right? If you're in a courtroom setting, you put your hand on the Bible and it's like, do you swear to tell the truth? Nothing but the truth, right? Or tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. So help you God, right? You are given a testimony and then you give an oath that what you say or what you promise is accurate. And if you break that oath, you actually could then be held accountable legally if you break that oath right? In the same way in those days when someone was making a contract with someone, an oath was given to put the guarantee on the contract in everyday life. We might swear to something higher or swear on something we love, right? I swear on my grandmother's grave or I swear to on my dog or I swear on my children's life like the good one and uh you know, like whatever, it's like we, we pick something we say, I, I promise you and if, if this doesn't come true, may something bad happen to whatever. Like we, we swear to a greater power. Now God goes to swear and think about a ma I just picture this visually, he's gonna make a promise, Abraham, I swear, but there's nobody greater. So he goes and I swear to me, isn't that cool? There's nobody greater to God. And so he says, I swear to me, right? Like when Jesus stubs his toe, he goes oh me, right? Like he is the highest power. And so what he's doing here when he swears to himself, he's not simply making a promise to Abraham. He is making a promise to himself. And if God promises something to himself, he will not break it because it breaks then the identity or the deity of God. So he cannot break it. Verse 14, he says, surely I will bless you and multiply you. And thus, Abraham having patiently waited, obtained the promise for people swear by something greater than themselves and in all their disputes, an oath is final confirmation. So when God desired to show more conventionally to the heirs of the promise, oh, we are included in this promise. I love that. It says the unchanged. When he goes to show more communally to the heirs of the promise, the unchangeable or unchangeable character of his purpose. I love that. He guaranteed it with an oath. This is the two step verification process. God gives the user name, the password. He gives the promise, I will bless you. And then he gives a second thing, an oath. So he puts a promise on the promise. He gives the eternity money back guarantee, right? Like you have a warranty that is past expiration. There is no expiration here with God that there is a promise on a promise, the two step verification that God will do what he says. He's going to do. Verse 18, it says 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 that is set before us before us. Verse 19. For we have this a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul. I love that, that the deepest need of what you have as a human being. We have this anchor for our soul. A hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek hope is the anchor. Faith is the rope. But from this passage, let me share with you three strands of the that make up the rope that we hang on to three things that we see that should give us confidence as we face the storms of life. Number one, we see that we have God's oath. He guarantees it. He makes a promise not to you, but a promise to Himself. In other words, our salvation is not based on us, it's based on God. But then secondly, here we then see that it's based on God's unchangeable character. Can we trust the rope? Yes, because it's who God is. Can you trust the word of God? I don't know if you speak the world into existence and then you defeat, you predict your own death, you die and then rise again. I'm gonna trust that word. Right? How do you know that you can trust the word of God? Because it's the same word that conquered death itself and that God cannot lie that His promise isn't just to you that he made a promise to himself. So we have God's oath, we have God's character. And in case you doubt either of those two, we also have thirdly God's son. In other words, Jesus himself is our anchor. And then he gives this incredible word picture that we probably miss here in the 21st century, but had a powerful application for his original audience when he calls Jesus the forerunner. Now, the forerunner could mean a few different things. It could mean in battle, the scout that goes ahead and tells the army back the battle that's to come. That's kind of a cool picture. But I don't actually think that's the forerunner. He's referring to you see, in the Mediterranean sea area where there is the high and low tides, the changing levels of water, there is large pockets of sand, it was difficult to navigate, especially during stormy, wintery seasons. And so there are these little boats that were called forerunners that would go out, you would drop the anchor into the little boat called the forerunner. And the forerunner would then navigate and drop the anchor in the shore. So that when it's the right time the boat has safe and secure passages to the harbor, isn't that so cool? So the forerunner goes ahead of the boat and guarantees the safe passage in the harbor. So what we see here in this passage is that Jesus is not only the anchor, but the forerunner holding the anchor, they're securing our safety to the harbor of eternity. We can trust the anchor for our soul because our anchor is secured in heaven that Jesus has promised the safe passage for those who believe and trust in Him as Lord and Savior. And I love that picture because when you have an anchor that's tied to a boat and you pull on the rope, do you draw the shore to the boat or the boat to the shore? You draw the boat to the shore and when we pray, that is what you do, you're not simply asking God to draw near to you, but rather you are drawing near to Him and in the storms of life, what we see is the wind and the waves and the craziness and the rising and the lowering of the tide. And we are uncertain and we are scared and we are afraid that in the middle of all of that, we have an anchor for our soul secured in heaven. So that when we pray, we don't pray things to go up to heaven. But rather we pray God, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so we can grab hold of that rope, the strands of God's oath, God's character. And God's son, that Jesus who is called the word. Think about that. We have the promise on a promise given through Jesus who's also called the word. So he says, I'm gonna give my word on my word that I will give you the word that then we have the word. So if you think about it, it's like God's promise on a promise, on a promise, on a promise, you can trust me, ok? You wanna talk about the footer doug for the poles that like in a skyrise building. The footer of Christianity that we stand on is Jesus the cornerstone, the foundation of our faith that defeated death itself. We're not sitting here as religious people going just believe we're not the people at Seaworld. We're not hoping in hope. It's not some mythical or magical thing. This is spiritual reality that when you believe and you grab hold of it and you believe in your heart and you confess with your mouth says that you will be saved. We see here in Romans 15 verse 13, it says, may the God of hope fill you with all joy. And peace in believing. So that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. It's so secure that you can leap in hope. You can abound in hope. You're, you are an official hope dealer, right? Like you're going through it like you get hope, you get hope, you get hope. Why? Because it's not based in us that you can abound and overflow in it because it's not based in your circumstance. It's based in your calling. And so whatever, being thrown your way physically, financially, emotionally, relationally, look, because if you try to have an anchor in anything else, it doesn't work. Right? If you have an anchor for your pocketbook, that's not gonna hold you. If you have an anchor in your health, what happens when the doctor calls and says, oh, it's cancer. If you have an anchor in your relationship and come to find out that person's betrayed you, right? If you anchor in anything except God, it's not tied to eternity. It's more like being tied to that balloon that floats away. Uh If you want something fun, Google this when you get home. Ok. Look up lawn chair, Larry. If you're laughing, you've read this story. I wanna talk about like a, a redneck legend who got like a we, a series of weather balloons tied it to a lawn chair and his plan, we had some beer and a shotgun and if the balloons got too high, he was gonna shoot the balloons. And so he would lower to the ground, what took off way faster than he expected to where an unidentified object was, was called by like an aircraft in the air. And because of the altitude change, he passed out. So lawn chair, Larry was passed out in a lawn chair floating thousands of feet above the air with a weather balloon attached until eventually it, it lowered and it, it came back down to safety legend, don't be launch here, Larry. Ok? You can't just attach yourself to something of this word world and hope that you're gonna land. Ok. Yeah. Instead attach yourself to Christ who is alive and well with the right hand of the father interceding for you. And for me, see in first Peter chapter one verses 3 to 5, it says blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope, love that it is a living hope. Christ is alive, which means his church is alive. So we need to stop looking like a TED facility or TED membership, right? Our churches, our families, our relationship should be filled with life because we have a living hope says through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading kept in heaven for you who by God's power are being guarded through faith. There it is again, you see that hope is the anchor. Faith is the rope that we are being guarded by faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time here in Romans 10 verse 8 to 13, it says, but what does it say that the word is near you and in your mouth and in your heart? That is the word of faith that we proclaim. Because if you confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. It doesn't say confess with your mouth. Believe in your heart, follow a checklist of all the things and maybe just maybe you'll be good enough. No, because our salvation is based on Christ. And by placing your faith in Jesus by grabbing hold of the rope, by confessing with your mouth, by believing in your heart and living out and show you show that you believe right. Abraham was persuaded that God had the power to do what He promised that we live by faith, not by sight that we grab hold of that rope that's attached to the anchor of Jesus says that you will be saved. Verse 10 for with the heart, one believes and is justified and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved for the scripture says, everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame for. There is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord as the Lord of all, bestowing his riches and all who call him for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved in the storms of life. We have to remember that hope is our anchor and faith is the rope. And so to close this morning, I just wanna simply ask you two questions. Number one. Do you have an anchor for your soul? Yeah. Yeah. Or are you floating around just trying to figure out life like lawn chair, Larry? All right, you might, you might look on the outside of the world that you got your stuff together, right? I got the job. I got the house. I got the promotion. But inside you are a mess. Yeah. Maybe you've been working hard to get that promotion and then you got it and then you realize, oh, that doesn't actually satisfy my soul. Maybe you've never gotten it and you just continue to live in this angst and stress and worry. No one's ever turned on the news like, yeah, I think our world's in a good spot, but as we're surrounded with danger and division and disunity and darkness and Brokenness in the middle of it. All there is a thread of blessing. There's a rope of faith that if you would cling on to, you would get an anchor for your soul. That your identity is not based in your circumstances. But in your calling that your faith is not simply based on what you've done, but who Jesus is. And then by putting your trust in your faith in Jesus, it changes everything. So the first question is, do you have an anchor for your soul? And the second question is, have you grabbed hold of the rope of faith? Have you put your trust in Jesus in a moment? I'm gonna give you a chance to pray with me and you get a chance to receive Christ in your life right now. But I also wanna acknowledge the Christians that are in the room are watching online and maybe you have that faith ropes a little loose though, right? Your boat's attached, but you don't, you're not focused on it. All you see is the wind and the waves and the storms and the issues in life. And you're like, oh no, I invite you to grab back hold of that faith that secures you in the first place that instead of doubting God, I invite you to doubt your doubts because we have God's promise on a promise. We have his oath, his character and his son who is the anchor and the forerunner who promises a safe passage to eternity if we would just put our trust in Him. So if you close your eyes and bow your heads for just a moment, no one looking around. I do wanna give that invitation right now that if you're sitting here hearing this saying John, I, I wanna put my trust in Jesus. I want to believe in Him. Would you just raise your hand? Let me know raise your hand that you want to receive Christ if you believe in Him? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You can put your hands down. What I wanna do now is pray and invite you to pray with me. It's not the magic and the words, but the belief in your heart. Will you pray with me. God. I need you. I can't make it to have it on my own. But Jesus, I believe that you are Lord and that's your savior. I put my faith in you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for loving me. I wanna grab hold of that rope of faith. Today. I love you and pray in your son's name. Amen.