An Anchor of the Soul
(A sermon by Rev Tan Kian Sing at True Life BPC on 20 July 2008)
Text: Hebrews 6:13-20
Storms of Life
God has never promised that Christians should be exempted from weathering the storms of life. The Scripture teaches that “man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). The Word of God tells us that on this earth we can expect much suffering. Job, a man who was tested to the extreme under the watchful care of the Almighty, testified in Job 14:1, “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” Even King Solomon, who was much blessed by the Lord with wisdom, riches, honour and a long life, as he observed life under the sun, declared, “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity” (Eccl 2:22-23).
Trials can come in many forms. They can be family problems, the death of a loved one, a serious or terminal illness, nursing a special child for the rest of his/her life, the loss of a job, pressure or stress from work or studies, not getting the job that we want, etc. Sometimes, the problems come all at the same time, or one after the other without a break. Just when you have settled a problem, the next one comes. All these difficulties may make us become so overwhelmed with fear that we wonder whether we would survive or sink. In times like these, what we really need is an anchor for our soul to stabilize our ship of life from drifting away and being smashed by the rocks, to keep us from capsizing and sinking into the depths of despair.
The Lord Jesus Himself warned the disciples that they were to expect trouble in this world: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Therefore, as we make our journey through life, it is never going to be smooth sailing. We will encounter many rocks and storms as we sail through the rough seas of life. And when we are caught in a stormy weather, we might be so severely beaten by the storms that we become shipwrecked. In such times, let us not forget that the Lord Jesus is with us and that we should put our trust in Him. When the disciples encountered a terrible storm, our loving Saviour who is the Master of all creation “rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39). So, we may not escape from life’s storms, but “with Christ in the vessel, we can smile at the storm” (as the hymn goes) because He is there with us.
Rev Timothy Tow’s Testimony
Here is a testimony taken from Rev Timothy Tow’s book, Son of a Mother’s Vow. He wrote: “When I founded Far Eastern Bible College, I had three students— Eddy Chan and Ng Sang Chiew from Batu Pahat and Ivy Tan from Pasir Panjang. At the end of the first academic year the first two left us. A member of the faculty added to my hurt by advising Ivy [now Mrs Tow, FEBC’s matron] also to leave, saying when a ship is sinking, even the rats will jump out. But Ivy stayed. I remember how I burst into tears when climbing the steps to my parsonage. As the Chinese saying goes, ‘In any enterprise, the beginning is difficult.’” Rev Tow continued, “But the Lord sent me three new students the next year.” And today, do we not see an increasing number of graduates from FEBC, now totalling more than 600 in the last four and a half decades? We praise God for His blessings. We thank God for His preservation, provision and protection all these decades.
Now the College is facing a great difficulty again. Will the FEBC ship sink? Will it not stay afloat in the midst of a great storm today? Is not the Lord with the ship? Is He not our Anchor? Even as our principal had called upon the Lord with his tears, and God remembered his tears, surely as we cry unto the Lord for help, He will help and deliver us also. So, do not be anxious or fearful when weathering the storms of life, but let us look unto Jesus; let us call upon Him and He will deliver us.
Biblical Counsel and Promises
The following are some verses from the Word of God that testify of this biblical counsel. Mark them in your Bible, and meditate upon them when the clouds above you turn dark and you realize that you are in for a stormy time.
Psalm 50:15, “And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.”
Psalm 55:16-18, “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me: for there were many with me.”
Psalm 91:14-15, “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.”
Psalm 116:1-6, “I love the LORD, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of the LORD; O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me.”
Psalm 145:18-19, “The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.”
Jesus Our Supreme Example
Dear brethren, do we have the habit of calling upon the Lord when we are in the midst of a fearful storm? Or do we panic and run, not knowing what to do? Do not think that the Lord does not know or does not see. Do not think that He is asleep. He knows all that is going on when you are beaten severely by the strong winds and storms of life. He is waiting for you to call upon Him, to trust in Him, to show Him that you need Him to deliver you from sinking.
In Hebrews 6:19, the Word tells us that this hope is the anchor of our soul, both sure and steadfast. We may go through life being tossed about through testing and trials, but if we would hold on tight to the Anchor, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who is our hope (1 Tim 1:1), we shall not be moved, or be shaken. The Lord Jesus Christ is also our spiritual Rock. If we do anchor our troubled soul upon the Rock who is Christ, we can never drift away and sink into the depths of the sea of problems in life.
We also have the blessed assurance of the very presence of Christ during the storms and stresses of daily living as Christ has promised that He is there always to watch over us “for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Heb 13:5). He is always there for us to anchor upon Him and to help us to maintain our course sure and steadfast when the storms of life arise. So, though we can never keep life’s storms away from us, how we respond to them is very important. It takes a certain degree of spiritual maturity to cope with life’s storms.
Learn from the example of the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that He “for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
“It Is Well with My Soul”
May we be encouraged by the testimony of the author of the famous and well-liked hymn, “It Is Well with My Soul.” On November 22, 1873, Horatio Spafford, a Chicago lawyer, and father of five children wrote the words to this famous hymn. Horatio lost his only son in 1871. Later that year the Chicago fire took his entire life savings. Two years later he and his family decided to take a vacation in Europe. He was held back due to some business but decided to send his wife and children ahead on the vessel as scheduled. On November 22, 1873 an iron vessel struck the ship and it sank in twelve minutes killing 226 people. When the survivors arrived in Europe Mrs Spafford wired her husband, “Saved alone.” Horatio then set sail to England to be with his sorrowing wife. When the ship arrived at the exact spot of the sinking and where his precious four daughters had drowned, the captain called Horatio on deck and pointed out to him the tragic spot. Horatio stood silently on deck for a few moments; then he returned to his cabin and he received sustaining comfort from God that enabled him to pen the words: “When sorrows like sea billows roll … It is well, it is well, with my soul.”
Again, Rev Tow shares in his book, Son of a Mother’s Vow: “Although I have gone through many crushing situations these fifty years, I thank God that every burden was turned into a blessing. About the time of the first graduation of the College, 1966, I was on my way to K.L. on business for the Church. As the train chugged up the steep Seremban gradient, it seemed to sympathise with the struggles in my heart. Out of the echo of mutual pantings, the lines began to flow for the composition of an anthem for FEBC. There was no one to turn to but Jehovah, the Lord of Hosts.” And so the FEBC anthem was composed through tears, difficulties and struggles, but at the same time with much prayer and trust in that blessed hope of Christ.
So dear friends, when the storms of life come and rage around us, with Christ as our Hope and our Anchor, regardless of our circumstances, we should be able to praise God and sing “it is well with my soul” because “we have an anchor that keeps the soul.” Amen.
