1127. The Four Anchors

The Four Anchors

"Then fearing lest they should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day" (Act_27:29).

W. Leon Tucker has a sermon upon this verse. We happened to run across it, as we were preparing this address. His sermon is beautiful. He has named it, "Anchored until Daybreak." We quickly ran our eye down his manuscript, desiring to see what anchors he would say we should cast from the storm-tossed boat. He mentioned four: The Word of God, the Deity of Christ, the Cross of Christ and the Coming of Christ. We believe if we had not run across his book, we would have mentioned the same; but since we saw the anchors of his choice, we feel that we can choose none better.

Let us get the picture before us. After being driven fourteen nights up and down in Adria, about midnight the sailors thought they drew near to some country. They sounded and found twenty fathoms; when they had gone a little further, they sounded again and found fifteen fathoms. Then, fearing lest they would have been driven against the rocks, they cast out four anchors and wished for day.

1. The first anchor is the Word of God. It will hold us securely during the storm. May we change the figure for a moment? This time, let us imagine a house built upon the sand, and another built upon the rocks. Let the sand represent the shifting beliefs of human philosophy; let the rock represent the impregnable Scriptures. Against these houses the storm descends, the winds blow, the floods come, the rains fall. The house built upon the sand falls, and great is the fall thereof. The house built upon the rock stands. It can not fall. So, our first, sure anchor is the God-breathed Word.

2. The Deity of Christ. This is an anchor that is certain to hold. The one who knows nothing but a human Saviour has no Saviour at all. Christ said, "If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins." When Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God;" Jesus replied, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonas." He who knows Christ as Deity, has an anchor that will hold.

3. The Cross of Christ. This anchor is all-important. It is not the life of Jesus Christ the Son of God, which saves. It is the Blood of Jesus Christ. Apart from His Cross, there is no salvation.

4. The Coming of Christ. This is an anchor we can not afford to leave out. In Heb_6:19 we read: "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." When the storms are dashing wild, the blessed hope is a sure anchor.

"Though the angry surges roll

On my tempest-driven soul,

I am peaceful, for I know,

Wildly though the winds may blow,

I've an anchor safe and sure,

That can evermore endure.

And it holds, my anchor holds:

Blow your wildest, then, O gale,

On my bark so small and frail:

By His grace I shall prevail,

For it holds, my anchor holds."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR