Remain

Big Idea: We must learn to remain firm and steadfast in Jesus. Apart from Him, we have no hope. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the firm and secure anchor.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for trading your life for ours. Thanks for being faithful and true, a firm and secure anchor in the midst of every storm. Give us strength and courage to hold onto you, no matter what.

Scripture: John 15:5-8, Psalm 23:1-3

Introduction

This is the last week of our anchor series, which has been an amazing 4-week series all built around a single verse of the Bible;

Hebrews 6:19 CSB

19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.

An anchor is an amazing invention, used by fishermen and sailors for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. The basic concept of an anchor is that it “is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current.[1]” An anchor is simple in its design, but powerful in its function.

As believers, we are encouraged to remain steadfast and committed in our faith through every trial and storm that life may bring. You may remember from last week that it’s not a matter of if the storms of life will come, it’s a matter of when. And when they come, you want to be prepared, you want to have a firm grip on the anchor of your soul, Jesus.

Today we’re going to talk more about maintaining that grip throughout life.

The Bible uses words like perseverance and steadfastness to describe enduring faith.

But there’s another word I want us to add to our vocabulary today, and that’s the word remain.

To remain is to stay… and in our fast paced, ever changing culture it’s become more and more of a rarity to remain. To hunker down for the long haul. Whether it be relationships, or jobs, or even zip codes. We are a culture that is constantly on the move. From one thing to another, many of us become enamored with the new shiny things or tired and bored of the old ones. Whatever the case may be, this isn’t how the faith works.

In fact, God calls us to remain, to hold fast, and to root ourselves in faith and righteousness.

His invitation is forever, not just for a little while.

One of the premises of this series is that the only firm and secure anchor is Christ. He is the one that will hold through any trial and every storm. There may be other anchors, but eventually they all give way and fail. So we learn to hold on, sometimes for dear life, but we learn to hold fast. We learn to remain.

John 15:5–8 CSB

5 I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without me. 6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you. 8 My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.

This passage is acutely important for those who believe. Jesus actually says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” But what does that mean, what are the ramifications of it all? Is it worth it to gain the whole world but lose your soul[2] in the process?

What are you holding onto? This all reminds me of a creative way that African bushmen find water.

Have you ever heard about the salt, tree, and baboon trick?

“When water is scarce, African bushmen have created a way to find new sources of it. They might not know where the water is, but often the local animals do. But you can't just ask an animal for directions, you have to be a bit more clever. First, the bushman puts a block of salt in a hole and they wait. Turns out, I'm not the only one who loves salt, baboons love salt too. And with enough time, one of these beautiful creatures will come by and try to grab the block of salt from the hole. The baboon goes to stick their hand in, grab the salt, but the salt makes his hand bigger, trapping his hand in the hole.

To escape, all the baboon has to do is let go of the salt, but they don't want to do that! So, they stay stuck until the bushman comes around, grabs them, and puts them in a cage. Once in the cage, the bushman gives them all the salt they want. The salt makes the baboon thirsty, then the bushman releases the baboon who will immediately rush to get water to quench their thirst. The bushman follows the baboon and they both drink their fill.

Besides being an inventive way to find water, normally when people hear this technique for the first time they always wonder why the baboon can't just drop the salt. Why can't it let go when it realizes it's stuck and that it's not going to get what it wants? It's because it's in our nature, you see it's not just the baboon that falls for this trap, we human beings do as well.

We see something we want and we'll hold on to it despite the cost to ourselves. Material wealth, status, prestige…There are many things we hold on to even though it potentially makes us miserable. Letting go takes courage.

I know it sounds crazy, but it’s true. Why don’t we all just let go of the proverbial salt and grab hold of Jesus? John 15:8 reminds us that this is all to the glory of the Father. All this holding tight to Christ, and asking the Father for the things we need. It brings Him glory, it brings Him pleasure to care for His creation. And it makes sense, because as any father knows, it’s an absolute delight to see your kids healthy, happy, and prospering.

He Loved First

One of the most amazing things about the love of God for His creation is that He loved us first. Before we could ever reciprocate that love, before our relationship with Him could be permanently restored, He loved.

1 John 4:9–10 CSB

9 God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

This passage gives us a clear explanation for how God loves us. He sent His son, which as you probably remember is also what John 3:16 says. God sent Jesus to sacrifice His life on behalf of creation in order to restore the relationship. And with that in mind, I just want you to think for a moment about any relationships in your life where you loved first, before there was any opportunity for love to be returned.

In his book Enjoying God, Lloyd Ogilvie writes:

My formative years ingrained the quid pro quo into my attitude toward myself: do and you’ll receive; perform and you’ll be loved. When I got good grades, achieved, and was a success, I felt acceptance from my parents. My dad taught me to fish and hunt and worked hard to provide for us, but I rarely heard him say, “Lloyd, I love you.” He tried to show it in actions, and sometimes I caught a twinkle of affirmation in his eyes. But I still felt empty.

When I became a Christian, I immediately became so involved in discipleship activities that I did not experience the profound healing of the grace I talked about theoretically …

I’ll never forget as long as I live the first time I really experienced healing grace. I was a postgraduate student at the University of Edinburgh. Because of financial pressures I had to accordion my studies into a shorter than usual period. Carrying a double load of classes was very demanding, and I was exhausted by the constant feeling of never quite measuring up. No matter how good my grades were, I thought they could be better. Sadly, I was not living the very truths I was studying. Although I could have told you that the Greek words for grace and joy are charis and chara, I was not experiencing them.

My beloved professor, Dr. James Stewart, that slightly built dynamo of a saint, saw into my soul with x-ray vision. One day in the corridor of New College he stopped me. He looked me in the eye intensely. Then he smiled warmly, took my coat lapels in his hands, drew me down to a few inches from his face, and said, “Dear boy, you are loved now!”

God loves us now, not when we get better. God loves us now, as we are.

My point in all this is to say that God loves you. He has a purpose and a plan for your life. He has a room in heaven waiting for you… A proverbial seat at the heavenly banquet table described in Matthew 22. He formed and knit you together in the womb (Psalm 139). And He uniquely gifted you with a role to play in the local church… The community of living stones that He is so carefully putting together into a spiritual house (1 Peter 2) And what God is building, His church, not even the very gates of hell could come against it, as Jesus describes in Matthew 16:18.

All that to say, why would you ever let go of Jesus?

Why wouldn’t you want to remain with Him, forever and ever?

Wandering Sheep

The answer to that, among other things, is that we are prone to wander. Prone to be distracted by worldly pleasures and practices. Prone to forget and prone to get disgruntled and frustrated.

Isaiah 53:6 CSB

6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

Through the prophet Isaiah, God warns us we all go astray, each to our own way. The sin of selfish pride and independence runs through all of humanity. It’s been a thorn in our side from the very beginning… and the remedy is Jesus. The antidote is to let go of all our independent pride and grab hold of Jesus. He alone is the firm and secure anchor of our souls.

It is the nature of sheep to stray and get in harm’s way, whether from hungry wolves or steep canyons. For centuries, shepherds have used various methods—from staff to dog—to keep sheep from straying from the safety of their care.

In recent times shepherds have tried more sophisticated methods. One is a metal, hoof-proof grid that is built into the ground around the sheep’s territory. The animals cannot walk over the grid, which is eight feet wide. This works well in keeping sheep in the protection of the pen.

But in 2006, shepherds in Yorkshire, England, found that their sheep were not only stubbornly prone to stray but also crafty. One of the sheep laid down and rolled over the grid. The other sheep in the herd followed the first, and soon the entire flock had spread over the countryside to neighborhood gardens, where they ate the food and flowers of local residents.

The shepherds eventually gathered up the troublesome sheep and returned them to their pen. But they escaped again and got into trouble. While the escape of this flock of “black” sheep may have seemed like an exciting adventure, it actually placed the animals in harm’s way from cars and unfriendly dogs.

Thankfully, our Good Shepherd found another way to deal with stubborn, straying sheep. As Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all.”

At some point, all of us grow tired of wandering. We come to the end of ourselves and we realize God was there all along. Waiting patiently for us to return, like the prodigal son to His father, God stayed. He remained faithful and true even when we wandered from Him.

And His desire is that all would return, and come to a saving faith in Jesus.

Conclusion

I can’t pretend to understand how difficult your life has been or how deep the pain goes. For many of us, life has been hard enough for long enough that we’ve learned through past experiences that we cannot trust anyone else. We’ve learned to rely on ourselves, our abilities, and learned to live with our own limitations. If I fail myself, at least I only have myself to blame. And that feels like a simpler equation than the numerous alternatives and options available.

I realize that asking you to let go of whatever you’re holding onto and grabbing hold of Jesus is like asking you to climb Mt. Everest on no sleep with no training. It seems impossible.

But what if Jesus was telling the truth? What if life with Him, remaining with Him, was a better option than everything you’ve tried before? What if giving your life to Jesus meant having peace, rest, and contentment?

At some point in between battles and running for his own life, King David wrote Psalm 23. I want to share the first few verses with you today, as you consider what life with Christ might look like.

David writes;

Psalm 23:1–3 CSB

1 The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. 2 He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

What if holding onto Jesus meant green pastures, still waters, and restoration? What if it meant an eternity of what Psalm 23 describes? It might be time to let go of the proverbial salt today, and grab hold of the only firm and secure anchor for your soul. Let’s pray together.

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