Iron Anchor Fixed in Rock Under Churning WaterBible World
6:19Hebrews 6:19
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Hope is pictured as an anchor for the inner life that is secure and immovable because it is fastened inside the heavenly veil where believers must fix it. Its holding ground is Christ himself in His work as High Priest forever, who has entered there as forerunner to bring people near to God and who pleads His blood for sinners. This hope is made certain by God's unchangeable promise confirmed by oath, because He cannot lie, giving strong comfort to all who flee to Him for refuge. It is laid hold of by living faith that reaches within the veil to grasp unseen realities and promised blessings, growing firmer as trust in the Saviour grows. What it holds is eternal life and the blessed hope of Christ's appearing, steadying the heart through trial, disappointment and loss and keeping truth as a sure anchorage against drifting and shipwreck.
Anchor Words Explained
Hope is an anchor for the soul that is sure and steadfast and enters within the veil, where Christ has gone before as forerunner and where believers must fix their anchor. The holding place for that anchor is Christ as the Rock of ages rent on purpose so the anchor may find a holding place, the broken body of Jesus and the living Rock and firm Rock on which a person stands secure and unmoved. Fastened in that rent Rock, which is the only foundation that can be laid, hope holds when earthly hopes are not realized and faith is sorely tried and when earthly life and strength fail, teaching patience without complaint, waiting upon the Lord as the strong and mighty One who is a best friend and not an enemy, not being greatly disappointed in dealings with men, and looking continually to Jesus as author and finisher of faith, with reason for full joy for those living in harmony and obedience to God. This anchoring gives security and serenity of mind to all who put trust in God and rest as a child in a parent's care, keeps those whose life is hidden in Christ from drifting because Christ is their sure foundation beyond the world's darkness, and prevents spiritual shipwreck, whereas unbalanced minds that insist on having their own way make strange movements. Each person must know for themselves that the Word of God is the directory, that Christ has taken the mediation between God and man, and that those not safely anchored need the truth that gives security, while those entrusted with young workers must keep laboring in kindness, meek correction, talk and prayer for the salvation of each one until their feet are planted firmly on that Rock, and when all are so established their work together moves harmoniously.
Jesus himself and God himself are the secure, sure and tested anchor of the soul, holding fast to himself amid every storm of opposition and every tempest of trial and adversity. Sought in every necessity as a friend, he loves with an everlasting love, and obedience to God's law gives health and peace and assurance in him. When men and women come to him just as they are he cleanses them from their sins and makes them his sons and daughters, giving peace and joy as the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Friend of sinners and Saviour, and keeping from the darkness of unbelief and the wickedness of the world. To be destitute of a Saviour is to be adrift on a dark and stormy sea, and the very thought of losing him brings fear and pain and leaves people adrift in fear and spiritual darkness, while faith in him gives peace, joy and firm hope. He invites his workers to call upon him for help and promises to hear and answer them, and they are to enlist the help of Omnipotence by reaching forth the hand in faith in the golden days of probation for help and strength to be strong workers in his vineyard, praying for soundness of judgment and heavenly wisdom. As a mighty Helper he sustains every laborer who trusts in him, and when the heavens seem dark and strength seems to fail he gives light and confidence to all who believe in him and breathes the Spirit of peace upon every troubled heart.
The true anchor of the soul is benevolent love with a heart unselfish, motives high and pure, and an eye single to the glory of God. Without this anchor the mind is unbalanced, judgment is perverted, and sympathies fall on the wrong side. A selfish heart may perform generous actions and show outward humility and affection, yet without pure principles of love its actions are not the fruits of true holiness. Love must be cherished and cultivated, for its influence is divine, soothing and comforting and giving confidence and rest of spirit when all is turmoil and confusion around. The anchor also keeps the mind from being scattered and gives the ability to put knowledge and intelligence to right use.
Christ Within the Veil
Hope is anchored in Christ's heavenly ministry, for by faith hope followed Him at His ascension within the veil where Jesus the forerunner has entered as High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek to bring people near to God. It is sure and steadfast because it is fixed on Christ in heaven and grounded in God's unchanging promises and complete work that brought everlasting righteousness and perfect, lasting peace. The disciples' faith followed Him there and their hopes centered there.
Within the veil Christ pleads His blood for sinners and presents the prayers of penitent believers with the fragrance of His righteousness. His mediation opens the way to the Father's throne, where the sincere desires of those who come to Him in faith may be presented to God. Faith carries the mind within the veil to behold Him as Intercessor before the mercy seat, which anchors the soul with faith, hope and courage and helps the sinner receive the truth. There He makes Calvary continually lasting, continually dying to sin for sinners though He lives unto God, so that if any sin he has an Advocate with the Father, and He now serves as officiating High Priest interceding for His people as He prayed for humanity in His earthly life. The earthly sanctuary's inner veil and restricted entrance for the high priest represented the heavenly holy places and Christ's work before God's throne beyond the veil.
Faith and hope reach within the second veil into the Most Holy Place where Jesus stands by the ark containing the ten commandments. In 1844 He finished mediation in the Holy Place, shut the door in the outer apartment so no man can open it, and opened the door in the inner apartment so no man can shut it, and passed within the second veil. Since that opening faith enters to Him there by the ark, the commandments shine out, and God tests His people on the holy Sabbath, a test that could not come until Jesus had passed within the second veil. Christians who died before the seventh month of 1844 without keeping the Sabbath rest in hope, because there was no condemnation until the true light on the Sabbath came.
As great High Priest within the veil pleading for His ransomed people, Christ ever lives to make intercession and is still linked to earth by the golden chain of love and truth in closest sympathy. He beholds His tried and suffering church in this persecuting, cursed world of temptation, remembering them, praying for them, and pleading with power for the lowly, oppressed, suffering, tried and tempted, and for the backslidden, rebellious, and those who sin against great light and love. Jesus is the sin-pardoning Saviour within the veil offering the blood of His atonement and pleading for sinners now, just now. Sinners, including children and youth, are to come just as they are, to pray and repent and ask Him at once to forgive and pardon sins and remove transgressions, trusting His declared mercy and revealed love instead of vainly trying to make themselves better or relying on promises to amend.
Christ within heaven's veil is the Substitute and Surety and the source to turn to in every trial and perplexity. Unlike human comfort, which is a broken support, He gives help to fallen people and hope in darkness, so that through His merits people can overcome evil. Faith in lively exercise that does not yield one inch when buffeted by the enemy enters within the second veil to take hold upon the most excellent glory. This is how calling and election are made sure, victory is gained by enduring a little longer because time is almost finished, a whole Saviour who saves from all sin is rejoiced in, and the length and breadth, height and depth of perfect love are known and all the fullness of God is received unto eternal life. Hope is firm because Jesus the High Priest has entered within the veil for His people, and faith centered on Him holds firm through every trial with assurance of victory, looks toward the distant promised future, and rests on His resurrection and continuing life as the guarantee of life.
Promise Behind Hope
The hope set before those who flee to God for refuge is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul that enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as forerunner and as high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek to bring people near to God. That hope is secured by God's unchangeable counsel and promise confirmed with an oath, and because He cannot lie His pledged word gives strong consolation and leaves no cause for doubt. It is for all who endeavor to meet His requirements, whatever their social standing or wealth. It supports bringing worries and burdens to Jesus and leaving them with Him.
Hope in God's promises is a sure support for the soul that calls for strong faith in God and firm reliance on the One who stands behind those promises. That faith looks away from discouraging appearances and circumstances, clings to the promises with full faith, and does not fail when God is testing faith.
The hope set before sinners in the gospel is to be laid hold of, and souls are to be led to lay hold of it. Looking to Jesus as Redeemer develops patience, and patience produces a true, well-grounded hope. God has made every provision for strong hope, and if His people are true to their covenant with Him the promised blessing is certain, as certain as His oath can make it. That blessing is so great that it will be a full and sufficient reward for all self-denial and self-sacrifice shown for Christ's sake here below.
What Hope Holds
The hope set before believers is eternal life itself, even forgiveness and immortality purchased at great price for perishing souls, secured through Christ's atonement and intercession as He has entered within the veil as forerunner. It must be laid hold upon by living faith that appropriates God's promises and the abundant blessings secured through Christ, contemplating and grasping the glorious hope set before us. Believing gives confident acceptance of God's favor both in this world and in the heavenly world, keeping believers steadfast in conflict and steady and unmovable amid temptations in the church militant, with the sure expectation that sharing His sufferings leads to sharing His glory.
The anchor is the perfect reconciliation God has effected between Himself and men, demonstrated in the gift of the Comforter. The donation of the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift God could bestow on finite men, free beyond computation, and it specially marks and signaled the enthronement of His only begotten Son in His mediatorial kingdom. The sure, tried anchor that holds is the hope that Christ is risen and lives to make intercession, not founded on a dead or helpless Savior. It looks not to the closed tomb or empty sepulcher in hopeless mourning but sings that Christ is risen, so that those who grasp Him by belief will live also, refuse despair, and see the glory of God.
The hope to hold and talk is the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, gained not through human merits but through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour who alone is substitute, surety, and Sin-bearer. When faith and hope are centered in Christ rather than self and enter within the veil where the Forerunner has entered, the tempest-tossed soul becomes a partaker of the divine nature and is anchored in Christ, so amid raging temptation his ship outrides the storm instead of being driven upon the rocks or drawn into the whirlpool, whereas trusting self and looking no higher makes shipwreck of faith. The good hope through Jesus is firm and unmovable, reaching into heaven within the veil to take hold of the immortal inheritance that is durable, incorruptible, undefiled, and never fades, reaching above passing earthly treasures. It gives consolation in affliction and joy amid anguish, disperses gloom and turns sight toward immortality and eternal life, to be cherished and clung to ever more closely, living on when all else dies; even if mortal bodies lie in the grave it lives until the voice of Jesus calls forth the sleeping dust into its fullness, and those who hold it have not run or labored in vain, for a rich glorious reward will surely be obtained by courageous perseverance.
Hope steadies the heart by fixing hopes and affections on the eternal home beyond this fleeting life and the brief troubled history of the race. The Bible opens the long vista of eternal ages undarkened by sin and undimmed by sorrow, teaches how to share the habitations of the blessed and the blessed life of eternity, and bids believers anchor there. Hope is Christ formed within, the hope of glory, giving true strong joy as a wellspring to refresh the weary on the steep path to eternal life, where no path is safe except the one growing clearer and firmer the farther it is pursued. The obedient soul finds liberty in God's law to lay hold by faith upon that hope, and choosing the path where God leads and going forward where duty calls with the hand firmly held by Christ's hand makes Satan-magnified difficulties disappear, so walking without fear is possible even though the foot may sometimes slip.
Hope rests on Christ's complete work, whose atonement for sin brought everlasting righteousness and perfect lasting peace, grounded in God's unchanging promises and reaching within the veil where Jesus has entered ahead as High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Christ's atonement is the steadying anchor of hope while God's Word is the lamp guiding the way. The anchor holding steady through every generation is the sacred truths about Jesus, especially His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension guarded with special care by angels, given as Israel's hope through the apostles as eyewitnesses with the Holy Spirit resting on them. All are to look to the Saviour of the world as their only hope, walk in the way He opened by the sacrifice of His own life, keep God's law and live, carry on His work in His name with power over Satan, and see light and glory centered on His death and resurrection as proof He is the Saviour of the world. Hope of eternal life is centered in Christ, and the teacher who learns from Him finds a safe anchorage. Jesus is the only hope, strength, courage, and crown of joy and victory, the truth more precious than gold or silver, sure and steadfast, to be sought with full assurance of faith while heaven is opened by continually looking to Him and trusting in Him, giving ever-increasing light unto the perfect day and a Christian character clear as crystal shining with heaven's light.
Faith That Enters
Salvation does not rest on human merit or effort but on Christ alone as the only Sin-bearer, Substitute and Surety, and hope centered in him holds the soul immovable amid moral danger and temptation like a ship kept off rocks and out of the whirlpool, while trusting in self and looking no higher makes shipwreck of faith. The hope set before believers in the gospel is to be laid hold of by living faith that firmly grasps divine power and reaches within the veil, and this hold sustains even when others hinder the work to save the ignorant, helpless and hopeless. As trust and faith in the Saviour grow, that hope becomes firm enough to hold the soul because it is secured within the veil.
God's promises, not changeable joyful feeling or emotion, are the evidence to rely on for acceptance with heaven, and those who meet the conditions of his word may trust he will fulfill what he has pledged. Faith sends itself within the veil to Jesus the source of light and power, talks with God, and takes him at his word by saying the promise is mine because he said it, and the blessing becomes real the moment faith grasps it, with peace and assurance following afterward rather than going before. Earnest prayer enters within the veil into God's presence, and those who pray and study Scripture daily may come before God with sanctified boldness and receive light and glory from heaven. Petitions sent in faith within the second veil lay hold of promised blessings before they are realized or felt, believing the blessing received according to God's word, and when the blessing is later experienced faith is swallowed up in experience, for the power or feeling that comes through the Spirit is the blessing received through faith, not faith itself.
Faith must reach into heaven where Christ the Forerunner has entered, taking hold of God's eternal promises and the unseen realities with a steadfast, immovable grasp that does not deny faith but holds firmly upon righteousness. That open communication between heaven and the soul brings light and glory from God's throne in abundance, enabling believers to stand firmly in righteousness and to fill their place rightly in the world, in society and in the church. The Holy Spirit enables this living faith to grasp God's promises beyond present trials to the hope of eternal life within the veil, filling the soul with hope and courage rather than despair as an anchor sure and steadfast and stronger than Satan's temptations, and so enabled believers share heaven's blessings with others.
Faith pierces beyond the veil to see invisible things, and this beholding is personal work no one can do for another but each must do for themselves. When Satan throws darkness across the path, faith can rise beyond it and reach within the veil to Jesus the source of all light and power, where the believer finds strength, the presence of angels and confidence against the enemy. Both young and old meet trials in which faith must press through darkness until the soul enters into God's presence behind the veil and walks in the light of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, believing in Jesus as a personal Saviour, and this replaces murmuring over blessings withheld with gratitude for blessings bestowed, defeats the powers of darkness and causes triumph among the hosts of heaven.
The sure and steadfast hope is laid hold of by faith in the perfect liberty found in God's law by the obedient soul, for obedience to Christ's commandments is the condition for being clothed with his righteousness and grasping the hope, and when sinners render back to God his own and wash their robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb they become entitled to a celestial crown. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the believer places the anchor within the veil because Jesus entered there, searches Scripture earnestly and seeks its light amid life's dangers and perplexities, joining hope to peace and trust in God's will rather than restless self-reliance. Hope is infinite power for victory that humanity may lay hold of, and Jesus in human nature as substitute and surety laid hold of that very hope to overcome the enemy's temptations and obtain the victory in behalf of the human family so that none need stumble on the road to everlasting life. Because he traveled the road before he knows every obstruction and difficulty every soul must meet, and at his baptism his petition to heaven cut straight through the hellish shadow of Satan thrown across the human path as his faith entered into God's presence within the veil.
Holding Through Trial
The anchor held the disciples steady through deepest sorrow and disappointment because their hope rested in God's fulfilled word seen in Jesus' resurrection, giving strong consolation and firm assurance that nothing could separate them from God's love. That same hope holds when earthly hopes are not realized and faith is sorely tried, teaching patience without complaint, waiting on the Lord as the strong and mighty best friend rather than an enemy, avoiding deep disappointment in dealings with men, and looking continually to Jesus as author and finisher of faith. When earthly hopes are crushed the eye of faith penetrates the veil to anchor there in everlasting assurance of a Friend that sticks closer than a brother, Jesus ascended to His Father and adored by angels yet with unchangeable tenderness loving, pitying and sympathizing, touched with human woe and acquainted with trials, struggles, temptations, sorrows and tears, present always even to the end of the world and alive forevermore to be with, strengthen and deliver in trying places.
Assurance of God's protection is a sure and steadfast hope entering within the veil that gives peace, courage and confidence amid difficulty and danger and strengthens to do whatever duty God requires. It comes from the sweet sense of sins forgiven and the light and love only Christ gives, filling the soul with peace and solemn joy, with assurance of being under the protection of Omnipotence and having the Saviour's presence. That assurance gives courage, confidence and a strength unknown to the worldly and the half-hearted professor, so difficulties cannot dismay nor dangers appall and the soul cheerfully performs whatever duty God requires. Faith fixed on God through Christ is this sure and steady anchor entering within the veil where Christ the Forerunner has entered, giving stability through disappointment and tribulation because God cares for each person and household and is touched by human weakness and sorrow. It holds firm through sickness, trials and bereavement, enabling believers in darkest hours to see Christ's beauty and set affections on heavenly things where Christ sits at God's right hand, resting on the promise that those whose life is hidden with Him will appear with Him in glory.
Hope in Jesus is a firm and secure anchor reaching within the veil where Jesus the forerunner has entered, holding through affliction and when health, strength or loved ones' lives are failing, because God's full, rich and free promises give a firm hold on future immortal life and comfort in grief. Faith and hope in those promises hold steady in deep affliction and sickness when heart and flesh fail, so the sufferer can say the anchor holds, even when boldness and confidence differ, for feelings are no criterion or measure but rest is on Jehovah's pledged word and simple earnest childlike trust in Jesus who loves and paid a dear price for redemption. Holding fast this hope set before us in the Lord's work without losing hope and faith brings the promised grace to make overcomers, gives victory and makes ready to sing praises, while discouragement shows the enemy has been allowed to come between the soul and God and keeps a person from glorifying Him. Holding this sure and steadfast anchor through tests and temptations keeps from wavering into doubt and discouragement and leads to speaking with faith and hope.
Christian hope strengthens the soul and lifts it above earthly trials, scorn, derision and reproach with divine consolation amid disappointments, belonging to those who profess truth, hold the standard high and walk the straight narrow self-denying cross-bearing path even when companions and children will not walk with them and they must walk alone. It makes them patient and forbearing like their Master, tender toward unbelieving family and friends without harsh unkind spirit or angry word, giving no occasion to reproach the cause of Christ and making family life as pleasant as possible while never yielding truth to please anyone nor letting duty to them override duty to God, but remaining decided, fixed, established and not doubtful, a consolation those who refuse truth lack, for this poor world is all the heaven they will ever enjoy. Hope anchored in Christ need not be unsettled by the errors or defects of professed Christians, for Christ the Author and Finisher of faith is the sure basis of trust, and trust grounded in God keeps settled on truth and secure through storms on the platform of eternal truth, while without this anchor people drift in uncertainty and can be steered by Satan. The anchor must be held fast when plans fail and temptation comes to doubt, murmur and let go of confidence, the surrendered heart trusting every working of His providence, and it holds in sickness and in the last closing scenes when lips are palsied with death, giving testimony that my Redeemer lives, the good fight has been fought, and a crown is laid up for all who love His appearing.
The anchor's strength is revealed when overwhelming trials and temptations come, revealing the strength of faith while afflictions develop the mind and will of Christ and principles of virtue and holiness. Faith and joy anchored within the veil, knowing Jesus is near, keep steadiness through trials with cheerfulness, hope, courage and joy in daily duties, sustaining faith and spiritual service by looking to Jesus. Those whose minds are controlled by the Holy Spirit have peace and rest in Christ and are sure and steady, while without that control people are like a ship without anchor driven and tossed by unrest and passion, and only when spiritual life is given are rest, lasting good and the things of peace secured and learned in storm and tempest. This sure and steadfast hope is to be personally possessed through earnest prayer and reverence for the sanctifying Word, as Jesus a very present help in every trouble bringing light, faith and knowledge of the Redeemer's love and presence, preparing to impart light, hope and faith to others, to soothe those tossed by doubt and fear, and to speak with assurance to the soul hovering between life and death so that even in last moments faith and hope may spring up with inspiring energy. It is reason to cling to hope and hold fast confidence in Jesus even when others hinder the work, sustaining workers as God works to save the ignorant, helpless and hopeless.
Truth That Anchors
The anchor that holds is the sacred, important truths about Christ, guarded with special care so they hold steady through every generation, and confidence in present truth steadies character with energy, effectiveness and dignity. The anchor is the messages of the first, second and third angels received in their order and understood, with the third pointing to the Most Holy Place. Those who have experience in the past messages point newcomers the way to follow Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary, and all who see the perfect chain of truth and gladly receive it are kept from being swept away. As an anchor to hold the whole body, these messages keep believers steady and shield every individual who receives and understands them against Satan's many delusions, which fix especially on those without experience in the two former messages to overthrow them, while breaking loose leaves people vulnerable to error and confusion.
Holding the anchor means holding fast together with the body to the personal experience of the first and second messages in their order as fulfilled in 1844, not changing them to point fulfillment to the future or far back in the past, not denying past leading, and not building up an independent faith apart from the body. Breaking loose opens the mind to Satan's snares and different errors to unsettle faith, to being driven about with winds of doctrine into division and scattering. Without that anchor the mind is divided and unstable, floating without settled faith, befogged by theories having no harmony with the third angel's message, losing love for and faith in that solemn warning and feeling irritated by it. Such a course professes consecration while the heart is not right, deceives and is deceived, spends time in reports and stories that distract and unsettle minds and prejudice weak unestablished souls against present truth, serves Satan to scatter and divide, and unless changed and light cherished and instruction received leaves one to follow imperfect judgment until faith is shipwrecked as a warning against going independent of the body.
Hope in the truth as it is in Jesus is a sure anchorage that holds, so believers must stand firm and not waver or be beaten about by waves of unbelief. Even when others falsely speak all manner of evil against them for Christ's sake, as was said against Christ, they need not fail or be discouraged. The end of all things is at hand, the third angel's message will triumph, and those who hold fast the truth will triumph with it. Faith in God's Word gives the soul this sure anchor and anchorage ground while waiting for signs and the closing scenes of earth's history, but weakening confidence in the Bible leaves the young adrift without anchor or compass. Being anchored within the veil means a confidence that cannot be shaken by any error, gained by studying God's Word with prayerful earnestness even when young, wrestling with difficult passages and seeking God for understanding until light shines forth, so the foundation of faith is established in the heart by personal knowledge of the One who inspired the Word.
Letting go of the anchor leaves one to beat about upon the rocks of infidelity and drift into unbelief for lack of a reliable foundation. The anchor is confidence in the reliability of the Scripture records and in God as Creator, and to question those records because the Creator and His works cannot be measured by imperfect human knowledge of science and cannot be explained by natural laws is to let go. That letting go leads on to questioning God's existence and attributing infinite power to nature. God's Word rightly understood and plainly applied as a straight chain of truth is the sure and steadfast anchor holding God's people firm amid the perils and terrible delusions of the last days. It holds those willing to receive its truth even at the cost of cherished errors and fables, and safeguards them from Spiritualism and the deceptions of perilous times.
God-revealed truth is an anchor that keeps from being set adrift by new prophetic theories that misapply Scripture, for truth established through God's leading remains true and becomes a steadying light when received and lived. That anchorage holding soul and church firm is the pillars of faith established since 1844, especially the clear truths of the sanctuary and Christ's relation to them. To receive new ideas and theories that contradict that message and remove those pillars is to be cut away from the anchorage of truth and set drifting, so that any sophistry that arises will be accepted. Firm faith in the sacred truths of the Bible and the testimonies is the holding anchor that keeps steadfast, while doubts and repeated talk of unbelief weaken that hold and speaking faith and following given light strengthen it. The testimonies give that anchoring hold, keeping from cowardice, wilting, weakness and inefficiency in standing for truth, making Jesus precious to the soul, and helping clear the soul from sin and roll back enclosing darkness.
Being firmly anchored in Bible doctrines and rooted and grounded in gospel truth establishes, strengthens and settles in the faith. Truth as it is in Jesus, the Word of God, is a secure unmoving anchor found by those who do the Word, and when implanted in the heart by the Spirit's power it sets right and keeps right, keeping steadfast in holiness and reclaiming from guilt. Without obeying it people drift from principles of truth and betray sacred trusts, and those who fall after corrupting their way become warning beacons that only the Word can keep one steadfast. Eternal truth is firm ground for faith keeping from impulse and vague theories through trust in Christ and submission to God's law. The soul's security must be firmly fastened to heaven and God's unalterable law, for learning, influence or strength of mind alone cannot give assurance of eternal life, but God weighs actions and requires a Christlike character, a God-taught conscience, loyalty to word and covenant, and practical obedience revealing Christ working within, without which faith is shipwrecked.
The anchor is love and obedience to the sacred important truths for this time, which held and obeyed hold one upon the right foundation. A theory of holiness or consecration outside present truth, making a right heart the one great thing while God's Word is of little consequence, destroys love for those truths and leaves souls without anchor to be carried by feeling with reason and judgment despised, while Satan comes in to control minds and give impressions and feelings to suit himself. God's truth is a stabilizing anchor giving stability and hope, and breaking away by refusing to confess and forsake sin risks eternal interests and leaves one like a person at sea without anchor, while wholehearted return and confession bring relief and hope. Sacred truth is the soul's anchor keeping from drifting toward crime and destruction, and reliance on Christ's blood and God's strength enables holding fast to it. Without clear knowledge of truth there is no anchorage or real comfort in faith and hope.
Merely professing or believing truth without the anchor leaves people vulnerable to being drawn into Satan's party and becoming stumbling blocks to those with living experience, and without it a profession will not stand. Hope brings safely to the haven of bliss and keeps every vessel from shipwreck to outride tempest and storm, but God-appointed means must be used diligently and prayerfully with special effort, special fighting and crucifixion of self. God will not work a miracle to save weak souls who cherish evil and practice sin, and no supernatural element will lift them out of self into a higher sphere where obedience is easy without effort; all who linger on Satan's ground waiting for that will perish with evildoers as Judas and Satan did, suddenly destroyed without remedy. Therefore ministers must stop criticism, questioning, doubt and opposition toward those God has sent, and instead erect barriers against the foe, pray fervently and continually night and day for grace, for the Captain of the Lord's host to take the field and for more laborers, and honor God's choice of earnest, firm, determined, strong-feeling men who put firmness and decision into their testimonies to make a break against Satan's barriers.
Anchored Daily Living
Hope cast within the veil calls for personal preparation now through repentance toward God and faith in Christ before probation closes. Becoming converted now by digging deep and laying the foundation sure gives a firm grip on immortal life and happiness in this life, while trusting self instead of glorifying God by a devoted life leaves one drifting with no hold. Its strength is to be exemplified as a witness by relying on Jesus every moment, drawing strength from Him, and seeking with the whole heart in sincerity with assurance of being found and answered. That witness also keeps the home pleasant and cheerful even where unbelief opposes.
To lack this hope is to lack God, bringing sickness of body and mind through dissatisfied feelings, discontented complaining and repining, restless longings, continually looking for evil, dwelling on borrowed trouble, suffering trouble beforehand, anxiety stamped on the face, no consolation, and fearful expectation of dreadful evil that dishonors God and brings religion into disrepute. To possess it purifies even as Christ is pure and frees from restless longings, complaining, discontent, looking for evil, borrowed trouble, and anxious dread. With the transforming influence of the Spirit and the benefit of Christ's mediation it gives true happiness, consolation, health to the body and strength to the soul.
Hope as a living reality holds one whose judgment and reason are convinced of truth so as not to stumble over inconsistent Sabbath-keepers who lack works, but to follow Jesus the only true unerring Pattern who pities and loves, overcoming strong habits and being purified by obeying truth unto happiness. The truth embraced holds steady even while one vacillates, being unchangeable and producing decided improvement in life. Yet that steadying does not finish saving work, for one must still entirely change wrong courses, guard the soul against Satan, refuse inclination and impulse and feeling, and resist temptation at the start, because sin is one's own act occurring only when will consents and the heart yields so passion dominates reason and iniquity triumphs over truth and justice.
Religion made an inward, inwrought principle and carefully cherished in every place and company is the anchor keeping one steady, responsible, reliable in every place and faithful to duty just where God has placed them, as reliable as compass to pole. It produces symmetrical character and deep living experience, and faithfulness in little things largely secures success in this life and in gaining the future life. To lay it aside is to separate from God and lose the anchor. Communion with God gives strength to every holy impulse so life's duties become a pleasure, and the strong principles of Christ's religion steady life and conduct. Trust abiding in Christ brings peace and joy, without which even those seeking to obey lack blessing and are not anchored.
Hope in Christ as a firm Rock gives solidity and steadfastness for growth into His likeness rather than remaining spiritual dwarfs, requiring avoidance of frivolity and constant watchfulness, especially for sisters standing alone. Those lacking steadiness and easily carried to extremes fail without an anchor to stand firmly in the cause of truth. Unlike the changeable who are swayed by worldly influence and anchored nowhere, one held steady by hope in Christ remains decided, fixed and established rather than doubtful. Believers must keep the anchor cast within the veil sure and steadfast by refusing self-exaltation, selfishness, avariciousness, controversy and disorder, so God brings order from chaos and upholds the gospel ministry in dignity and honor.
Those entrusted with young workers must labor in kindness, meek correction, talk and prayer for each one's salvation until feet stand firmly on the Rock, and when so established their work moves harmoniously. The teacher who learns from Christ finds safe anchorage because hope of eternal life is centered in Him. The gospel sets the promise of hope before people for faith to grasp, and unfolded from Scripture to those in darkness it gives happiness, hope and peace to the desponding. It calls for seeking with all God-given powers rather than for commonplace earthly things, because the secured soul outweighs all gold and silver and to lose it would be better never to have been born.
The hope of redemption through Christ is open even to those weighed down by guilt, perplexed by temptation, wandered from true happiness, with will depraved and weakened and hope well-nigh gone. Grasped like a trembling hand with grateful joy it awakens higher impulses and holier desires. It is kept alive by a friendly outstretched hand, words of encouragement free from bitterness, blame and condemnation, and promises held before the downcast, while rebuke can sever it and patient loving ministry secures it until prodigals return in contrition. Perfect confidence in the church holds like an anchor on the right foundation against weakness, faltering, doubt and perplexity when Satan brings obstacles at home, while God's love still reaches the doubting with a sweet spirit to make him a soldier of the cross. The soul also needs the anchor of leaning on the judgment and counsel of experienced brethren rather than drifting in confusion, moving cautiously and counseling to avoid the enemy's battlefield, especially for those sensitive and easily thrown by disappointment.
Remaining steadfast in Christian duties and trusting God by faith even when standing alone reflects the anchor. Building on any other foundation than Christ is building on shifting sand, and attempted reformation without the Holy Spirit's reviving power leaves one adrift. Only when spiritual life is given are rest, lasting good and the things of peace secured in storm and tempest. Those who turn from human foolishness and frailty and from Satan to Christ the shepherd and bishop stand secure on eternal truth and can say the anchor holds.
Hope is pictured as an anchor for the inner life that is secure and immovable because it is fastened inside the heavenly veil where believers must fix it. Its holding ground is Christ himself in His work as High Priest forever, who has entered there as forerunner to bring people near to God and who pleads His blood for sinners. This hope is made certain by God's unchangeable promise confirmed by oath, because He cannot lie, giving strong comfort to all who flee to Him for refuge. It is laid hold of by living faith that reaches within the veil to grasp unseen realities and promised blessings, growing firmer as trust in the Saviour grows. What it holds is eternal life and the blessed hope of Christ's appearing, steadying the heart through trial, disappointment and loss and keeping truth as a sure anchorage against drifting and shipwreck.
Anchor Words Explained
Hope is an anchor for the soul that is sure and steadfast and enters within the veil, where Christ has gone before as forerunner and where believers must fix their anchor. The holding place for that anchor is Christ as the Rock of ages rent on purpose so the anchor may find a holding place, the broken body of Jesus and the living Rock and firm Rock on which a person stands secure and unmoved. Fastened in that rent Rock, which is the only foundation that can be laid, hope holds when earthly hopes are not realized and faith is sorely tried and when earthly life and strength fail, teaching patience without complaint, waiting upon the Lord as the strong and mighty One who is a best friend and not an enemy, not being greatly disappointed in dealings with men, and looking continually to Jesus as author and finisher of faith, with reason for full joy for those living in harmony and obedience to God. This anchoring gives security and serenity of mind to all who put trust in God and rest as a child in a parent's care, keeps those whose life is hidden in Christ from drifting because Christ is their sure foundation beyond the world's darkness, and prevents spiritual shipwreck, whereas unbalanced minds that insist on having their own way make strange movements. Each person must know for themselves that the Word of God is the directory, that Christ has taken the mediation between God and man, and that those not safely anchored need the truth that gives security, while those entrusted with young workers must keep laboring in kindness, meek correction, talk and prayer for the salvation of each one until their feet are planted firmly on that Rock, and when all are so established their work together moves harmoniously.
Jesus himself and God himself are the secure, sure and tested anchor of the soul, holding fast to himself amid every storm of opposition and every tempest of trial and adversity. Sought in every necessity as a friend, he loves with an everlasting love, and obedience to God's law gives health and peace and assurance in him. When men and women come to him just as they are he cleanses them from their sins and makes them his sons and daughters, giving peace and joy as the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Friend of sinners and Saviour, and keeping from the darkness of unbelief and the wickedness of the world. To be destitute of a Saviour is to be adrift on a dark and stormy sea, and the very thought of losing him brings fear and pain and leaves people adrift in fear and spiritual darkness, while faith in him gives peace, joy and firm hope. He invites his workers to call upon him for help and promises to hear and answer them, and they are to enlist the help of Omnipotence by reaching forth the hand in faith in the golden days of probation for help and strength to be strong workers in his vineyard, praying for soundness of judgment and heavenly wisdom. As a mighty Helper he sustains every laborer who trusts in him, and when the heavens seem dark and strength seems to fail he gives light and confidence to all who believe in him and breathes the Spirit of peace upon every troubled heart.
The true anchor of the soul is benevolent love with a heart unselfish, motives high and pure, and an eye single to the glory of God. Without this anchor the mind is unbalanced, judgment is perverted, and sympathies fall on the wrong side. A selfish heart may perform generous actions and show outward humility and affection, yet without pure principles of love its actions are not the fruits of true holiness. Love must be cherished and cultivated, for its influence is divine, soothing and comforting and giving confidence and rest of spirit when all is turmoil and confusion around. The anchor also keeps the mind from being scattered and gives the ability to put knowledge and intelligence to right use.
Christ Within the Veil
Hope is anchored in Christ's heavenly ministry, for by faith hope followed Him at His ascension within the veil where Jesus the forerunner has entered as High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek to bring people near to God. It is sure and steadfast because it is fixed on Christ in heaven and grounded in God's unchanging promises and complete work that brought everlasting righteousness and perfect, lasting peace. The disciples' faith followed Him there and their hopes centered there.
Within the veil Christ pleads His blood for sinners and presents the prayers of penitent believers with the fragrance of His righteousness. His mediation opens the way to the Father's throne, where the sincere desires of those who come to Him in faith may be presented to God. Faith carries the mind within the veil to behold Him as Intercessor before the mercy seat, which anchors the soul with faith, hope and courage and helps the sinner receive the truth. There He makes Calvary continually lasting, continually dying to sin for sinners though He lives unto God, so that if any sin he has an Advocate with the Father, and He now serves as officiating High Priest interceding for His people as He prayed for humanity in His earthly life. The earthly sanctuary's inner veil and restricted entrance for the high priest represented the heavenly holy places and Christ's work before God's throne beyond the veil.
Faith and hope reach within the second veil into the Most Holy Place where Jesus stands by the ark containing the ten commandments. In 1844 He finished mediation in the Holy Place, shut the door in the outer apartment so no man can open it, and opened the door in the inner apartment so no man can shut it, and passed within the second veil. Since that opening faith enters to Him there by the ark, the commandments shine out, and God tests His people on the holy Sabbath, a test that could not come until Jesus had passed within the second veil. Christians who died before the seventh month of 1844 without keeping the Sabbath rest in hope, because there was no condemnation until the true light on the Sabbath came.
As great High Priest within the veil pleading for His ransomed people, Christ ever lives to make intercession and is still linked to earth by the golden chain of love and truth in closest sympathy. He beholds His tried and suffering church in this persecuting, cursed world of temptation, remembering them, praying for them, and pleading with power for the lowly, oppressed, suffering, tried and tempted, and for the backslidden, rebellious, and those who sin against great light and love. Jesus is the sin-pardoning Saviour within the veil offering the blood of His atonement and pleading for sinners now, just now. Sinners, including children and youth, are to come just as they are, to pray and repent and ask Him at once to forgive and pardon sins and remove transgressions, trusting His declared mercy and revealed love instead of vainly trying to make themselves better or relying on promises to amend.
Christ within heaven's veil is the Substitute and Surety and the source to turn to in every trial and perplexity. Unlike human comfort, which is a broken support, He gives help to fallen people and hope in darkness, so that through His merits people can overcome evil. Faith in lively exercise that does not yield one inch when buffeted by the enemy enters within the second veil to take hold upon the most excellent glory. This is how calling and election are made sure, victory is gained by enduring a little longer because time is almost finished, a whole Saviour who saves from all sin is rejoiced in, and the length and breadth, height and depth of perfect love are known and all the fullness of God is received unto eternal life. Hope is firm because Jesus the High Priest has entered within the veil for His people, and faith centered on Him holds firm through every trial with assurance of victory, looks toward the distant promised future, and rests on His resurrection and continuing life as the guarantee of life.
Promise Behind Hope
The hope set before those who flee to God for refuge is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul that enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as forerunner and as high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek to bring people near to God. That hope is secured by God's unchangeable counsel and promise confirmed with an oath, and because He cannot lie His pledged word gives strong consolation and leaves no cause for doubt. It is for all who endeavor to meet His requirements, whatever their social standing or wealth. It supports bringing worries and burdens to Jesus and leaving them with Him.
Hope in God's promises is a sure support for the soul that calls for strong faith in God and firm reliance on the One who stands behind those promises. That faith looks away from discouraging appearances and circumstances, clings to the promises with full faith, and does not fail when God is testing faith.
The hope set before sinners in the gospel is to be laid hold of, and souls are to be led to lay hold of it. Looking to Jesus as Redeemer develops patience, and patience produces a true, well-grounded hope. God has made every provision for strong hope, and if His people are true to their covenant with Him the promised blessing is certain, as certain as His oath can make it. That blessing is so great that it will be a full and sufficient reward for all self-denial and self-sacrifice shown for Christ's sake here below.
What Hope Holds
The hope set before believers is eternal life itself, even forgiveness and immortality purchased at great price for perishing souls, secured through Christ's atonement and intercession as He has entered within the veil as forerunner. It must be laid hold upon by living faith that appropriates God's promises and the abundant blessings secured through Christ, contemplating and grasping the glorious hope set before us. Believing gives confident acceptance of God's favor both in this world and in the heavenly world, keeping believers steadfast in conflict and steady and unmovable amid temptations in the church militant, with the sure expectation that sharing His sufferings leads to sharing His glory.
The anchor is the perfect reconciliation God has effected between Himself and men, demonstrated in the gift of the Comforter. The donation of the Holy Spirit is the greatest gift God could bestow on finite men, free beyond computation, and it specially marks and signaled the enthronement of His only begotten Son in His mediatorial kingdom. The sure, tried anchor that holds is the hope that Christ is risen and lives to make intercession, not founded on a dead or helpless Savior. It looks not to the closed tomb or empty sepulcher in hopeless mourning but sings that Christ is risen, so that those who grasp Him by belief will live also, refuse despair, and see the glory of God.
The hope to hold and talk is the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, gained not through human merits but through the merits of a crucified and risen Saviour who alone is substitute, surety, and Sin-bearer. When faith and hope are centered in Christ rather than self and enter within the veil where the Forerunner has entered, the tempest-tossed soul becomes a partaker of the divine nature and is anchored in Christ, so amid raging temptation his ship outrides the storm instead of being driven upon the rocks or drawn into the whirlpool, whereas trusting self and looking no higher makes shipwreck of faith. The good hope through Jesus is firm and unmovable, reaching into heaven within the veil to take hold of the immortal inheritance that is durable, incorruptible, undefiled, and never fades, reaching above passing earthly treasures. It gives consolation in affliction and joy amid anguish, disperses gloom and turns sight toward immortality and eternal life, to be cherished and clung to ever more closely, living on when all else dies; even if mortal bodies lie in the grave it lives until the voice of Jesus calls forth the sleeping dust into its fullness, and those who hold it have not run or labored in vain, for a rich glorious reward will surely be obtained by courageous perseverance.
Hope steadies the heart by fixing hopes and affections on the eternal home beyond this fleeting life and the brief troubled history of the race. The Bible opens the long vista of eternal ages undarkened by sin and undimmed by sorrow, teaches how to share the habitations of the blessed and the blessed life of eternity, and bids believers anchor there. Hope is Christ formed within, the hope of glory, giving true strong joy as a wellspring to refresh the weary on the steep path to eternal life, where no path is safe except the one growing clearer and firmer the farther it is pursued. The obedient soul finds liberty in God's law to lay hold by faith upon that hope, and choosing the path where God leads and going forward where duty calls with the hand firmly held by Christ's hand makes Satan-magnified difficulties disappear, so walking without fear is possible even though the foot may sometimes slip.
Hope rests on Christ's complete work, whose atonement for sin brought everlasting righteousness and perfect lasting peace, grounded in God's unchanging promises and reaching within the veil where Jesus has entered ahead as High Priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Christ's atonement is the steadying anchor of hope while God's Word is the lamp guiding the way. The anchor holding steady through every generation is the sacred truths about Jesus, especially His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension guarded with special care by angels, given as Israel's hope through the apostles as eyewitnesses with the Holy Spirit resting on them. All are to look to the Saviour of the world as their only hope, walk in the way He opened by the sacrifice of His own life, keep God's law and live, carry on His work in His name with power over Satan, and see light and glory centered on His death and resurrection as proof He is the Saviour of the world. Hope of eternal life is centered in Christ, and the teacher who learns from Him finds a safe anchorage. Jesus is the only hope, strength, courage, and crown of joy and victory, the truth more precious than gold or silver, sure and steadfast, to be sought with full assurance of faith while heaven is opened by continually looking to Him and trusting in Him, giving ever-increasing light unto the perfect day and a Christian character clear as crystal shining with heaven's light.
Faith That Enters
Salvation does not rest on human merit or effort but on Christ alone as the only Sin-bearer, Substitute and Surety, and hope centered in him holds the soul immovable amid moral danger and temptation like a ship kept off rocks and out of the whirlpool, while trusting in self and looking no higher makes shipwreck of faith. The hope set before believers in the gospel is to be laid hold of by living faith that firmly grasps divine power and reaches within the veil, and this hold sustains even when others hinder the work to save the ignorant, helpless and hopeless. As trust and faith in the Saviour grow, that hope becomes firm enough to hold the soul because it is secured within the veil.
God's promises, not changeable joyful feeling or emotion, are the evidence to rely on for acceptance with heaven, and those who meet the conditions of his word may trust he will fulfill what he has pledged. Faith sends itself within the veil to Jesus the source of light and power, talks with God, and takes him at his word by saying the promise is mine because he said it, and the blessing becomes real the moment faith grasps it, with peace and assurance following afterward rather than going before. Earnest prayer enters within the veil into God's presence, and those who pray and study Scripture daily may come before God with sanctified boldness and receive light and glory from heaven. Petitions sent in faith within the second veil lay hold of promised blessings before they are realized or felt, believing the blessing received according to God's word, and when the blessing is later experienced faith is swallowed up in experience, for the power or feeling that comes through the Spirit is the blessing received through faith, not faith itself.
Faith must reach into heaven where Christ the Forerunner has entered, taking hold of God's eternal promises and the unseen realities with a steadfast, immovable grasp that does not deny faith but holds firmly upon righteousness. That open communication between heaven and the soul brings light and glory from God's throne in abundance, enabling believers to stand firmly in righteousness and to fill their place rightly in the world, in society and in the church. The Holy Spirit enables this living faith to grasp God's promises beyond present trials to the hope of eternal life within the veil, filling the soul with hope and courage rather than despair as an anchor sure and steadfast and stronger than Satan's temptations, and so enabled believers share heaven's blessings with others.
Faith pierces beyond the veil to see invisible things, and this beholding is personal work no one can do for another but each must do for themselves. When Satan throws darkness across the path, faith can rise beyond it and reach within the veil to Jesus the source of all light and power, where the believer finds strength, the presence of angels and confidence against the enemy. Both young and old meet trials in which faith must press through darkness until the soul enters into God's presence behind the veil and walks in the light of Christ the Sun of Righteousness, believing in Jesus as a personal Saviour, and this replaces murmuring over blessings withheld with gratitude for blessings bestowed, defeats the powers of darkness and causes triumph among the hosts of heaven.
The sure and steadfast hope is laid hold of by faith in the perfect liberty found in God's law by the obedient soul, for obedience to Christ's commandments is the condition for being clothed with his righteousness and grasping the hope, and when sinners render back to God his own and wash their robes of character white in the blood of the Lamb they become entitled to a celestial crown. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the believer places the anchor within the veil because Jesus entered there, searches Scripture earnestly and seeks its light amid life's dangers and perplexities, joining hope to peace and trust in God's will rather than restless self-reliance. Hope is infinite power for victory that humanity may lay hold of, and Jesus in human nature as substitute and surety laid hold of that very hope to overcome the enemy's temptations and obtain the victory in behalf of the human family so that none need stumble on the road to everlasting life. Because he traveled the road before he knows every obstruction and difficulty every soul must meet, and at his baptism his petition to heaven cut straight through the hellish shadow of Satan thrown across the human path as his faith entered into God's presence within the veil.
Holding Through Trial
The anchor held the disciples steady through deepest sorrow and disappointment because their hope rested in God's fulfilled word seen in Jesus' resurrection, giving strong consolation and firm assurance that nothing could separate them from God's love. That same hope holds when earthly hopes are not realized and faith is sorely tried, teaching patience without complaint, waiting on the Lord as the strong and mighty best friend rather than an enemy, avoiding deep disappointment in dealings with men, and looking continually to Jesus as author and finisher of faith. When earthly hopes are crushed the eye of faith penetrates the veil to anchor there in everlasting assurance of a Friend that sticks closer than a brother, Jesus ascended to His Father and adored by angels yet with unchangeable tenderness loving, pitying and sympathizing, touched with human woe and acquainted with trials, struggles, temptations, sorrows and tears, present always even to the end of the world and alive forevermore to be with, strengthen and deliver in trying places.
Assurance of God's protection is a sure and steadfast hope entering within the veil that gives peace, courage and confidence amid difficulty and danger and strengthens to do whatever duty God requires. It comes from the sweet sense of sins forgiven and the light and love only Christ gives, filling the soul with peace and solemn joy, with assurance of being under the protection of Omnipotence and having the Saviour's presence. That assurance gives courage, confidence and a strength unknown to the worldly and the half-hearted professor, so difficulties cannot dismay nor dangers appall and the soul cheerfully performs whatever duty God requires. Faith fixed on God through Christ is this sure and steady anchor entering within the veil where Christ the Forerunner has entered, giving stability through disappointment and tribulation because God cares for each person and household and is touched by human weakness and sorrow. It holds firm through sickness, trials and bereavement, enabling believers in darkest hours to see Christ's beauty and set affections on heavenly things where Christ sits at God's right hand, resting on the promise that those whose life is hidden with Him will appear with Him in glory.
Hope in Jesus is a firm and secure anchor reaching within the veil where Jesus the forerunner has entered, holding through affliction and when health, strength or loved ones' lives are failing, because God's full, rich and free promises give a firm hold on future immortal life and comfort in grief. Faith and hope in those promises hold steady in deep affliction and sickness when heart and flesh fail, so the sufferer can say the anchor holds, even when boldness and confidence differ, for feelings are no criterion or measure but rest is on Jehovah's pledged word and simple earnest childlike trust in Jesus who loves and paid a dear price for redemption. Holding fast this hope set before us in the Lord's work without losing hope and faith brings the promised grace to make overcomers, gives victory and makes ready to sing praises, while discouragement shows the enemy has been allowed to come between the soul and God and keeps a person from glorifying Him. Holding this sure and steadfast anchor through tests and temptations keeps from wavering into doubt and discouragement and leads to speaking with faith and hope.
Christian hope strengthens the soul and lifts it above earthly trials, scorn, derision and reproach with divine consolation amid disappointments, belonging to those who profess truth, hold the standard high and walk the straight narrow self-denying cross-bearing path even when companions and children will not walk with them and they must walk alone. It makes them patient and forbearing like their Master, tender toward unbelieving family and friends without harsh unkind spirit or angry word, giving no occasion to reproach the cause of Christ and making family life as pleasant as possible while never yielding truth to please anyone nor letting duty to them override duty to God, but remaining decided, fixed, established and not doubtful, a consolation those who refuse truth lack, for this poor world is all the heaven they will ever enjoy. Hope anchored in Christ need not be unsettled by the errors or defects of professed Christians, for Christ the Author and Finisher of faith is the sure basis of trust, and trust grounded in God keeps settled on truth and secure through storms on the platform of eternal truth, while without this anchor people drift in uncertainty and can be steered by Satan. The anchor must be held fast when plans fail and temptation comes to doubt, murmur and let go of confidence, the surrendered heart trusting every working of His providence, and it holds in sickness and in the last closing scenes when lips are palsied with death, giving testimony that my Redeemer lives, the good fight has been fought, and a crown is laid up for all who love His appearing.
The anchor's strength is revealed when overwhelming trials and temptations come, revealing the strength of faith while afflictions develop the mind and will of Christ and principles of virtue and holiness. Faith and joy anchored within the veil, knowing Jesus is near, keep steadiness through trials with cheerfulness, hope, courage and joy in daily duties, sustaining faith and spiritual service by looking to Jesus. Those whose minds are controlled by the Holy Spirit have peace and rest in Christ and are sure and steady, while without that control people are like a ship without anchor driven and tossed by unrest and passion, and only when spiritual life is given are rest, lasting good and the things of peace secured and learned in storm and tempest. This sure and steadfast hope is to be personally possessed through earnest prayer and reverence for the sanctifying Word, as Jesus a very present help in every trouble bringing light, faith and knowledge of the Redeemer's love and presence, preparing to impart light, hope and faith to others, to soothe those tossed by doubt and fear, and to speak with assurance to the soul hovering between life and death so that even in last moments faith and hope may spring up with inspiring energy. It is reason to cling to hope and hold fast confidence in Jesus even when others hinder the work, sustaining workers as God works to save the ignorant, helpless and hopeless.
Truth That Anchors
The anchor that holds is the sacred, important truths about Christ, guarded with special care so they hold steady through every generation, and confidence in present truth steadies character with energy, effectiveness and dignity. The anchor is the messages of the first, second and third angels received in their order and understood, with the third pointing to the Most Holy Place. Those who have experience in the past messages point newcomers the way to follow Jesus by faith into the heavenly sanctuary, and all who see the perfect chain of truth and gladly receive it are kept from being swept away. As an anchor to hold the whole body, these messages keep believers steady and shield every individual who receives and understands them against Satan's many delusions, which fix especially on those without experience in the two former messages to overthrow them, while breaking loose leaves people vulnerable to error and confusion.
Holding the anchor means holding fast together with the body to the personal experience of the first and second messages in their order as fulfilled in 1844, not changing them to point fulfillment to the future or far back in the past, not denying past leading, and not building up an independent faith apart from the body. Breaking loose opens the mind to Satan's snares and different errors to unsettle faith, to being driven about with winds of doctrine into division and scattering. Without that anchor the mind is divided and unstable, floating without settled faith, befogged by theories having no harmony with the third angel's message, losing love for and faith in that solemn warning and feeling irritated by it. Such a course professes consecration while the heart is not right, deceives and is deceived, spends time in reports and stories that distract and unsettle minds and prejudice weak unestablished souls against present truth, serves Satan to scatter and divide, and unless changed and light cherished and instruction received leaves one to follow imperfect judgment until faith is shipwrecked as a warning against going independent of the body.
Hope in the truth as it is in Jesus is a sure anchorage that holds, so believers must stand firm and not waver or be beaten about by waves of unbelief. Even when others falsely speak all manner of evil against them for Christ's sake, as was said against Christ, they need not fail or be discouraged. The end of all things is at hand, the third angel's message will triumph, and those who hold fast the truth will triumph with it. Faith in God's Word gives the soul this sure anchor and anchorage ground while waiting for signs and the closing scenes of earth's history, but weakening confidence in the Bible leaves the young adrift without anchor or compass. Being anchored within the veil means a confidence that cannot be shaken by any error, gained by studying God's Word with prayerful earnestness even when young, wrestling with difficult passages and seeking God for understanding until light shines forth, so the foundation of faith is established in the heart by personal knowledge of the One who inspired the Word.
Letting go of the anchor leaves one to beat about upon the rocks of infidelity and drift into unbelief for lack of a reliable foundation. The anchor is confidence in the reliability of the Scripture records and in God as Creator, and to question those records because the Creator and His works cannot be measured by imperfect human knowledge of science and cannot be explained by natural laws is to let go. That letting go leads on to questioning God's existence and attributing infinite power to nature. God's Word rightly understood and plainly applied as a straight chain of truth is the sure and steadfast anchor holding God's people firm amid the perils and terrible delusions of the last days. It holds those willing to receive its truth even at the cost of cherished errors and fables, and safeguards them from Spiritualism and the deceptions of perilous times.
God-revealed truth is an anchor that keeps from being set adrift by new prophetic theories that misapply Scripture, for truth established through God's leading remains true and becomes a steadying light when received and lived. That anchorage holding soul and church firm is the pillars of faith established since 1844, especially the clear truths of the sanctuary and Christ's relation to them. To receive new ideas and theories that contradict that message and remove those pillars is to be cut away from the anchorage of truth and set drifting, so that any sophistry that arises will be accepted. Firm faith in the sacred truths of the Bible and the testimonies is the holding anchor that keeps steadfast, while doubts and repeated talk of unbelief weaken that hold and speaking faith and following given light strengthen it. The testimonies give that anchoring hold, keeping from cowardice, wilting, weakness and inefficiency in standing for truth, making Jesus precious to the soul, and helping clear the soul from sin and roll back enclosing darkness.
Being firmly anchored in Bible doctrines and rooted and grounded in gospel truth establishes, strengthens and settles in the faith. Truth as it is in Jesus, the Word of God, is a secure unmoving anchor found by those who do the Word, and when implanted in the heart by the Spirit's power it sets right and keeps right, keeping steadfast in holiness and reclaiming from guilt. Without obeying it people drift from principles of truth and betray sacred trusts, and those who fall after corrupting their way become warning beacons that only the Word can keep one steadfast. Eternal truth is firm ground for faith keeping from impulse and vague theories through trust in Christ and submission to God's law. The soul's security must be firmly fastened to heaven and God's unalterable law, for learning, influence or strength of mind alone cannot give assurance of eternal life, but God weighs actions and requires a Christlike character, a God-taught conscience, loyalty to word and covenant, and practical obedience revealing Christ working within, without which faith is shipwrecked.
The anchor is love and obedience to the sacred important truths for this time, which held and obeyed hold one upon the right foundation. A theory of holiness or consecration outside present truth, making a right heart the one great thing while God's Word is of little consequence, destroys love for those truths and leaves souls without anchor to be carried by feeling with reason and judgment despised, while Satan comes in to control minds and give impressions and feelings to suit himself. God's truth is a stabilizing anchor giving stability and hope, and breaking away by refusing to confess and forsake sin risks eternal interests and leaves one like a person at sea without anchor, while wholehearted return and confession bring relief and hope. Sacred truth is the soul's anchor keeping from drifting toward crime and destruction, and reliance on Christ's blood and God's strength enables holding fast to it. Without clear knowledge of truth there is no anchorage or real comfort in faith and hope.
Merely professing or believing truth without the anchor leaves people vulnerable to being drawn into Satan's party and becoming stumbling blocks to those with living experience, and without it a profession will not stand. Hope brings safely to the haven of bliss and keeps every vessel from shipwreck to outride tempest and storm, but God-appointed means must be used diligently and prayerfully with special effort, special fighting and crucifixion of self. God will not work a miracle to save weak souls who cherish evil and practice sin, and no supernatural element will lift them out of self into a higher sphere where obedience is easy without effort; all who linger on Satan's ground waiting for that will perish with evildoers as Judas and Satan did, suddenly destroyed without remedy. Therefore ministers must stop criticism, questioning, doubt and opposition toward those God has sent, and instead erect barriers against the foe, pray fervently and continually night and day for grace, for the Captain of the Lord's host to take the field and for more laborers, and honor God's choice of earnest, firm, determined, strong-feeling men who put firmness and decision into their testimonies to make a break against Satan's barriers.
Anchored Daily Living
Hope cast within the veil calls for personal preparation now through repentance toward God and faith in Christ before probation closes. Becoming converted now by digging deep and laying the foundation sure gives a firm grip on immortal life and happiness in this life, while trusting self instead of glorifying God by a devoted life leaves one drifting with no hold. Its strength is to be exemplified as a witness by relying on Jesus every moment, drawing strength from Him, and seeking with the whole heart in sincerity with assurance of being found and answered. That witness also keeps the home pleasant and cheerful even where unbelief opposes.
To lack this hope is to lack God, bringing sickness of body and mind through dissatisfied feelings, discontented complaining and repining, restless longings, continually looking for evil, dwelling on borrowed trouble, suffering trouble beforehand, anxiety stamped on the face, no consolation, and fearful expectation of dreadful evil that dishonors God and brings religion into disrepute. To possess it purifies even as Christ is pure and frees from restless longings, complaining, discontent, looking for evil, borrowed trouble, and anxious dread. With the transforming influence of the Spirit and the benefit of Christ's mediation it gives true happiness, consolation, health to the body and strength to the soul.
Hope as a living reality holds one whose judgment and reason are convinced of truth so as not to stumble over inconsistent Sabbath-keepers who lack works, but to follow Jesus the only true unerring Pattern who pities and loves, overcoming strong habits and being purified by obeying truth unto happiness. The truth embraced holds steady even while one vacillates, being unchangeable and producing decided improvement in life. Yet that steadying does not finish saving work, for one must still entirely change wrong courses, guard the soul against Satan, refuse inclination and impulse and feeling, and resist temptation at the start, because sin is one's own act occurring only when will consents and the heart yields so passion dominates reason and iniquity triumphs over truth and justice.
Religion made an inward, inwrought principle and carefully cherished in every place and company is the anchor keeping one steady, responsible, reliable in every place and faithful to duty just where God has placed them, as reliable as compass to pole. It produces symmetrical character and deep living experience, and faithfulness in little things largely secures success in this life and in gaining the future life. To lay it aside is to separate from God and lose the anchor. Communion with God gives strength to every holy impulse so life's duties become a pleasure, and the strong principles of Christ's religion steady life and conduct. Trust abiding in Christ brings peace and joy, without which even those seeking to obey lack blessing and are not anchored.
Hope in Christ as a firm Rock gives solidity and steadfastness for growth into His likeness rather than remaining spiritual dwarfs, requiring avoidance of frivolity and constant watchfulness, especially for sisters standing alone. Those lacking steadiness and easily carried to extremes fail without an anchor to stand firmly in the cause of truth. Unlike the changeable who are swayed by worldly influence and anchored nowhere, one held steady by hope in Christ remains decided, fixed and established rather than doubtful. Believers must keep the anchor cast within the veil sure and steadfast by refusing self-exaltation, selfishness, avariciousness, controversy and disorder, so God brings order from chaos and upholds the gospel ministry in dignity and honor.
Those entrusted with young workers must labor in kindness, meek correction, talk and prayer for each one's salvation until feet stand firmly on the Rock, and when so established their work moves harmoniously. The teacher who learns from Christ finds safe anchorage because hope of eternal life is centered in Him. The gospel sets the promise of hope before people for faith to grasp, and unfolded from Scripture to those in darkness it gives happiness, hope and peace to the desponding. It calls for seeking with all God-given powers rather than for commonplace earthly things, because the secured soul outweighs all gold and silver and to lose it would be better never to have been born.
The hope of redemption through Christ is open even to those weighed down by guilt, perplexed by temptation, wandered from true happiness, with will depraved and weakened and hope well-nigh gone. Grasped like a trembling hand with grateful joy it awakens higher impulses and holier desires. It is kept alive by a friendly outstretched hand, words of encouragement free from bitterness, blame and condemnation, and promises held before the downcast, while rebuke can sever it and patient loving ministry secures it until prodigals return in contrition. Perfect confidence in the church holds like an anchor on the right foundation against weakness, faltering, doubt and perplexity when Satan brings obstacles at home, while God's love still reaches the doubting with a sweet spirit to make him a soldier of the cross. The soul also needs the anchor of leaning on the judgment and counsel of experienced brethren rather than drifting in confusion, moving cautiously and counseling to avoid the enemy's battlefield, especially for those sensitive and easily thrown by disappointment.
Remaining steadfast in Christian duties and trusting God by faith even when standing alone reflects the anchor. Building on any other foundation than Christ is building on shifting sand, and attempted reformation without the Holy Spirit's reviving power leaves one adrift. Only when spiritual life is given are rest, lasting good and the things of peace secured in storm and tempest. Those who turn from human foolishness and frailty and from Satan to Christ the shepherd and bishop stand secure on eternal truth and can say the anchor holds.