Thus with the soul of man. Without the Christian hope it is a ship without an anchor, adrift on a stormy sea, at the mercy of its own passions, the temptations of life, and the wiles of the devil. These are the tempests which the soul must meet and struggle with; and, destitute of the gospel anchor, it must make shipwreck of faith and a good conscience.
The anchor is the seaman’s last resort. He has many expedients with which to battle and make head against the tempest, but when all other methods fail, then the anchor must bring her up or she is lost.
Thus the Christian, when all other expedients fail, when his own strength is but weakness, flings himself upon the mercy of God, and moors head and stern to the eternal promise and the covenants of grace.
“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.”
Many a good ship has been lost, not because her anchors were insufficient and her ground tackle poor, not because they were not thrown clear and the ship properly secured to them, but because the holding ground was bad,—a smooth ledge, a soft mud, or loose sand,—insomuch that the anchors either slip over or cut through, and the seaman must perish without any fault of his own. In other places is found a soft mud or gravel upon the surface and beneath a strong clay, into which the anchor beds itself so sure and steadfast that no wind or sea will bring it home—the best of holding ground. Such anchorages are highly prized by seafaring men; they will beat up many a mile to windward to gain an anchor in them.
Thus the anchor of the soul is both sure and steadfast, because as the anchor of the ship goes through the surface mud into the deep, tenacious clay, it entereth into that within the veil.
The Holy of Holies, the most sacred place in the Jewish temple, was concealed by a veil, which was rent in twain at the crucifixion. That event was typical of those inward spiritual truths which are revealed to the believer by Christ, and in which his hope consists. The promises of grace and the inward witness of the spirit that he is an heir of those promises through faith in Christ are the holding ground of the believers’ anchor, where once bedded it is sure and steadfast.
These are inward spiritual joys of which the believer cannot be deprived except by his own remissness and the letting down of the anchor watch. These promises were the anchor of the apostle’s experience. A rough, stormy life was his—almost always on a lee shore and among the breakers. Very little smooth water did he see, for in every city bonds and imprisonment awaited him; but he had on board the gospel anchor, and shackled to it the chain of a rich and deep experience. The bitter end of that chain was clinched around the riding bits of his soul; and he had no fear that the anchor would come home or the chain part that moored him to it, and he could say: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
Life is the sea; the soul is the vessel; the grace, gifts, and experience of the soul make up the priceless cargo with which the ship is freighted. Heaven is the harbor all hope to make. The temptations, labor, and afflictions of life are the tempests we must encounter. It is a stormy sea and a wintry passage. You need good ground tackle and good holding ground. Have you them? If not, it is from negligence, not necessity. It is, my friend, because you have not bestirred yourself to take hold of the promises of grace that have been pressed upon you.