The thing that's written here in dark print in the close of my notes is, I mean for you to have as much confidence in me, says God, as it is possible to have. Otherwise, he would have sworn by something less than God. He swore by God. He took God as an oath upon

the lips of God in order that you might have strong encouragement,

not by one thing but by two things to flee to him for refuge.

What has God done to fill us with strong encouragement?

In this episode of Light and Truth,

John Piper turns to Hebrew 6, 13 to 18 to explore the

unchanging nature of God's promise and oath which are meant to anchor our hope

and provide us with unwavering confidence.

This sermon was originally preached at Bethlehem Baptist Church on November 10, 1996.

God's purpose in this text for us this morning, and his purpose for the ministry of his Holy Spirit right here among us, right now I believe is to impress very powerfully,

life-changingly upon your minds and your hearts his desire for you to have strong encouragement.

God means to minister by the word and the spirit this morning,

strong encouragement into this congregation and into your heart and into your family.

That's very clear to me from this text.

I do not doubt that he appointed this text months ago and appointed your presence here this morning in ways that you perhaps did not yourself plan, that you might be strongly encouraged. And so now let's look at how he does it.

How does he do it? He begins in verse 13 on common ground 13 and 14 he begins in the Old Testament with his

readers and I believe that if you've been listening on Wednesday night as we've been

talking about the authority and inspiration and

inerrancy of the scriptures, you'll remember that Jesus Christ in dozens and dozens of

ways and places put his stamp of authority on the Old Testament.

And therefore we who trust Christ, who've been brought to Christ as our king and our

Lord and our truth.

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