Why God Swore an Oath to You

This transcript has been lightly edited from an automated transcription for clarity and readability. While we've worked to preserve each speaker's words faithfully, errors may remain.

1. 00:00

   Adriel Sanchez

   How sure can you be that God really means what he says when he promises you something, especially when you find those promises in his Word? And what are those promises supposed to do for you? I want to look at a story where a pastor is writing to a group of Christians whose world had been turned upside down. Really, we’re going to look at that from Hebrews, chapter 6, verses 13 through 20, and see what this text of Scripture means for us and how [it] can encourage us today. “For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’ And thus Abraham, having patiently Waitd, obtained the promise. For people swear by someone greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, 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 set before us.

2. 01:12

   Adriel Sanchez

   “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever and after the order of Melchizedek.” Like I said, this book was written to a group of Christians whose world had been turned upside down. It was because of their faith in Jesus that things started to go difficult for them. At one point they started strong, their eyes fixed on Jesus. They were running with endurance. But somewhere along the way they’d grown sluggish. Some of them were even considering abandoning Jesus altogether and going back to the Old Testament rituals that characterized their prior lives in Judaism. And there were probably several reasons for this, sin obviously being at the top of the list, but also suffering that was a direct result of their faith in Christ.

3. 02:03

   Adriel Sanchez

   The pastor to the Hebrews alludes to their tribulations later in the book, in chapter 10, verses 32 and following. Here’s what he [says]: “But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and afflictions, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one.” Even in these verses here in chapter 6, the pastor refers to them as fugitives, or those fleeing for refuge. It’s interesting because the only other time that word is used in the New Testament is in Acts 14:6, when Paul and Barnabas were on the run because of persecution. So it’s almost like this pastor is saying, “Look, I know you guys have been through some things—suffering, public reproach, prison, the seizing of your property—but don’t lose heart.” The problem was it seemed like they started to drift from the message they heard originally, according to chapter 2. In chapter 5, it says that they’d become dull of hearing.

4. 03:07

   Adriel Sanchez

   In chapter 12, verse 12, it says that spiritually speaking, it’s like their hands were drooping and their knees are about to buckle. Things didn’t look great. And this church really was not an isolated case. There are many believers weighed down by sin, knocked off balance by suffering, uncertain about the future, who need hope. One of the members of my church recently went through a great trial with cancer. They are now in the presence of Jesus after fighting for several years. And toward the end of the fight, on one occasion, as we were sitting down talking about how hard it had been for them, they shared about a recent visit from a non-Christian friend who was basically New Age in their beliefs. This friend came with mantras and meditations, hoping to comfort, talking about how helpful they had been for him.

5. 03:52

   Adriel Sanchez

   But this person in my church said it had the opposite effect. For someone struggling to breathe because tumors are squeezing their lungs, mantras and meditations are worthless. We need a more concrete hope, a more sure word. The question is, does God have one for us? Does he have one for you? And here we see in these verses that he actually does. When life is slipping away, God wants us to lay hold of his unshakable promises. And God has gone to great lengths in order to demonstrate to us that he means what he says. Consider the example of Abraham from this passage. “For when God made a promise to Abraham,” we’re told, “since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, ‘Surely I will bless you and multiply you.’”

6. 04:40

   Adriel Sanchez

   Now, it’s fitting for the author to bring up Abraham as an example here, because Abraham had experienced testing just like these Christians were. The oath that the author is referring to comes from Genesis chapter 22, right on the heels of when God tested Abraham by asking him to sacrifice Isaac. And of course, Abraham really had no idea what was going on. But he believed God, and he trusted that God was going to fulfill his promise despite the circumstances he found himself in. Now, if you’re familiar with the story of Abraham, you know that by the time you get to chapter 22, God had already promised Abraham a seed and an inheritance a handful of times earlier. In chapters 12 and 13, 15 and 17, God has gone to great lengths to reveal to Abraham his good intentions for his life. So that by the time we get to chapter 22, where God says, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord,” there’s no way for Abraham to question the very thing we’re tempted to question when facing trials: God loves me and he is with me, and he has a plan.

7. Adriel Sanchez

   [~05:37] ADRIEL SANCHEZ - “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord.” Now, what kind of a God makes an oath to people? Jesus said we should really be a people of our word. Our yes should mean yes, and our no should mean no. We shouldn’t be the kinds of people who need to swear oaths all the time in order to be taken seriously. But of course, in some instances, swearing an oath can be appropriate or necessary even. It’s never necessary for God to do this, though. And yet he does.

8. 06:04

   Adriel Sanchez

   Why? Not because he is a liar, but because he knows us. Have you ever thought to yourself, “Sure, God might promise Abraham something great, but who am I? I’m a poor sinner, and my sins make me wonder if God is really as committed to me as he says he is”? And so God, the creator of heaven and earth, stoops down to our insecurity, and he says, “Okay, here, let me, the God who has never told a lie, swear an oath to you.” And this is precisely why he does it. According to verse 17, he desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose. So he guaranteed it with an oath. I want you to drink these words in from John Calvin. He wrote, “See how kindly God, as a gracious Father, accommodates himself to our slowness to believe.

9. 06:56

   Adriel Sanchez

   “As he sees that we rest not on his simple word, that he might more fully impress it on our hearts, he adds an oath. Hence also it appears how much it concerns us to know that there is such a certainty respecting his good will towards us, that there is no longer any occasion for wavering or for trembling.” In the midst of our fearful trembling, God gives us a sure and objective word that he seals with an oath. And all of us need this. I don’t care how spiritually mature you are or how much of the Bible you know. If you don’t know this, you’re liable to drifting. Just quoted Calvin. Let me quote Luther, who said, quote:

10. 07:35

    Adriel Sanchez

    “I’ve become acquainted with this problem in the long nights of struggle when darkness emerges and meets me face to face. I know how often and quickly I am separated from the soft winds of the gospel and grace. It’s as if a shadow falls that overwhelms me in dark and gloomy clouds. I know all too well the slippery slopes that meet even those who are experienced and seem to be standing firm in the faith.” I’ve always loved Luther’s raw honesty. I have some pretty rough nights, he says, and if it was true of him, then it will probably be true of each of us. And it’s during those nights that God condescends to our weakness with his promises and oath.

11. 08:15

    Adriel Sanchez

    Your sins are forgiven. The Spirit of the new creation is yours. I will never leave you or forsake you. I have secured for you an eternal inheritance. Don’t be sluggish, but believe. Now, you might be thinking, “Okay, Adriel, that’s great for Abraham, man. It would be nice to have a personal promise from God like he received. But how does that promise apply to me?” Well, I want you to take note of the interesting move this pastor makes in verse 18.

12. 08:43

    Adriel Sanchez

    It’s a move that’s crucial for us to understand. He shifts from talking about Abraham to talking about the church, as if the solemn oath God made to Abraham is extended to you and me. Here again, verse 18: “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 set before us.” And then in verse 19: “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul.” How does this pastor get from Abraham to us when it comes to God’s oath? Maybe he had been reading the apostle Paul. Some people think he was the apostle Paul. We’re not sure who wrote the book of Hebrews, but here’s the answer.

13. 09:28

    Adriel Sanchez

    According to the Bible, through Jesus, the promises made to Abraham belong to us by faith. Remember what Paul said to the Galatians in Galatians, chapter 3, verse 29: “And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” Another thing that’s really interesting about this passage: this text was instrumental for me in my own walk with the Lord, in coming into a deeper understanding of how those ordinances that Jesus instituted relate to us, the sacraments of grace, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper. Because here the author to the Hebrews is talking about this objective promise, this objective word that he wants this church, these people, to lay hold of by faith, to cling to it, to hold fast to it. And really, the sacraments of grace are visible words to us that exhibit the gospel. It’s almost like, thinking about this concept of an oath, every time we take the Lord’s Supper, the body and blood of Jesus by faith are being extended to you.

14. 10:30

    Adriel Sanchez

    God’s goodwill is being extended to you objectively. And we are called as the people of God to receive these promises—these oaths, if you will—with faith and joy. So one of the things that this highlights is just the objectivity of God’s Word. Whether it comes to us through the preaching of the gospel or visibly in baptism and the Lord’s Supper, these are real promises that are extended to the church, and we can sink our teeth into them. It’s not that God is not trustworthy. It’s not that God has not promised us things. It’s that oftentimes we don’t lay hold of those promises like we should. Don’t let that happen to you, brothers and sisters.

15. 11:17

    Adriel Sanchez

    We have been roped into God’s promises through Jesus. And those promises exhibit Jesus as the anchor of our salvation. Remember that these Hebrew Christians were being tempted to go back to the temple in Jerusalem, and here this pastor shows them how foolish that would be. Our hope has already ascended into the true temple behind the curtain. Jesus, our forerunner, is there on our behalf, and he is interceding for us. The metaphor of the anchor is really powerful here. And the great irony is that typically anchors lodge themselves in the deepest part of the ocean to stabilize a ship in the middle of a storm. Our anchor isn’t in the deepest part of the earth, but in the highest sphere of heaven: Jesus in the presence of God.

16. Adriel Sanchez

    [~12:03] ADRIEL SANCHEZ - And that reality is true no matter what our circumstances are. What did I tell my friend who shared with me about the mantras and meditations that brought him no comfort? I shared the same thing with him that I shared every chance I got to be with him in the days leading up to his death. We have something far stronger than cliches or platitudes. These aren’t empty words to try to make you feel better. They are the concrete and comforting words of Almighty God. Christ is truly risen.

17. 12:37

    Adriel Sanchez

    Our sins have been obliterated. Our hope is lodged in heaven. And so we press forward with patience and lay hold of what God has promised.