Greetings,
The following comments serve to illustrate the sea upon which the Church is sailing. It is turbulent, unpredictable and dangerous – the result of man trying to govern himself without God.
“We are living in historic times. Never has the gap between the rich and the poor, the elites and the common people been so great. Never has the very notion of democracy and self-determination been so fragile. Never have the core tenets of so-called capitalism been under such attack. And never has there been such unprecedented brute-force interference in markets that used to pride themselves on being ‘free.’
The solution? There really is none. As the TV show Deadwood illustrated, we initially create government to bring order out of chaos. Over time, government itself becomes the chaos and ultimately destroys the fabric of the very society to which it gave birth.
On a roadmap of possibilities, that is where we are now. Governments in the West are imploding under the weight of protecting themselves and the elites from the very problems they themselves wrought. The results will not be pretty.” (Robert Appel, Profit Confidential, Wednesday July 13, 2016.)
Even though Robert Appel’s comments are made with economic circumstances in mind, they apply generally to the times in which we live. Unlike the author’s conclusion that there is no solution, God has given us a means to navigate these uncertain waters.
This is not the first time that the people of God have faced difficult times. The book of Hebrews was written to Church members who needed encouragement to maintain steadfastness and calm in the face of pressure to drift or neglect important issues of salvation (Hebrews 2:1-3). The members were to be greatly encouraged by “the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:18). Hope is a vital key for us. In fact, hope is to act as an anchor for our lives, to give us security and solidity (Verse 19). Hope is not just a positive or cheerful outlook, it is an attitude based solidly on faith in God’s promises – promises made by a God who cannot lie.
This anchor is attached to our High Priest who has entered “behind the veil”. He is our “forerunner”; therefore our hope is in the fulfillment of God’s promises of salvation. The anchor is a symbol of our hope in a future existence. It is a symbol of security and safety completely independent of the present conditions. Even though we might be buffeted by storms of uncertainty and doubt, we have an anchor attached to the Rock.
Our High Priest sits at the right hand of God ready to make intercession for us. Our Father knows every detail of the difficult times we each face. As our forerunner Christ has shown us that we no longer have any separation from our Father, Who sees us as His sons and has a profound love for us. He is concerned about your life. Our High Priest has mediated a better covenant by His blood and we have access to the Spirit of God, which enables our minds to have real hope. We can see things that the natural mind cannot. Man without God sees no solutions. We not only see God’s solution, but have been selected to be a part of it.
Our anchor of hope holds us firmly to Christ, Who “is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives and makes intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:25). Our hope is strong, firm and stabilizing in these “historic times.”
Warm Regards,
Brian Orchard
