Horatius Bonar on The Anchor of the Soul part 6

Horatius Bonar concludes his article on The Anchor of the Soul this way:

My anchor lies within the veil,
No wind can make it drive;
It lies where Thou art landed, Lord,
And where we shall arrive.

Poor sinner, the night is near, and appearances are very gloomy on the face of sea and land. The sea and its waves are roaring. Men’s hearts are beginning to fail them for fear(Luke21:26). The whirlwind which the Son of man is to send over the earth, as the herald of His coming, seems ready to burst forth. At present there is an ominous stillness — the stillness that precedes the thunderstorm. Are you meditating to flee? Is your hope this, that the storm will blow over at last? Alas! Alas! It never will; for the Living God will never die. Is it your hope that perhaps you may be drifted on the shores of heaven, though you were not directing your sails thitherward? This, too, is vain; for this storm is sent forth in order to drive vessels to the shoals of hell. Do you hope that you may brave it out, because you are not so heavily laden as others? Ah! But it is too true that one sin attracts the lightning, and one stroke of the thunderbolt will make way for the rushing flood. Oh, flee to the hope set before you! Flee from the wrath to come! Anchor on the sheltered shore! Rest on the Savior, who rests on the Father’s bosom! Return through Christ to God; and then, returning sinner, you will be welcomed to the Father’s bosom with the very welcome thatmet the returned Savior!

May we observe Bonar's call to flee the wrath to come and Anchor our souls on the sheltered shore!

Horatius Bonar on the Anchor of our Soul part 5

The anchor is sure. That is, it can never fail nor break, for its nature is divine. It is also steadfast. It remains fixed whatever storm assails, because it is fixed “within the veil.” Let us survey the shore on which it is cast. This shore is the region within the veil. This adds to our grounds of faith, and brightens the confidence of our hope. This Savior on whom our hope rests is an accepted Savior. He is within the veil. The anchor has entered into that within the veil, that is, into the holy region within. The Father examined His work and found it faultless; and as a token of His well-pleasedness received Him within the veil, and placed Him at His right hand in all power and glory. Oh, how great is the consolation here! Our anchor rests, not on shifting sands, but in the bosom of the Father. It is “hid in God” (Col. 3:3). Sure anchor, and firm ground on which it is sunk! What storm will drag it up from that mooring? O my soul, keep to this anchor, and neither earth nor hell shall ever move thee from thy safe station on the shore of heaven! True,the vessel is worthless — my vessel with all its freight is worthless — yet nevertheless it is safe! “He bringeth me to my desired haven, and I am glad because all is peace” (Ps. 107:30).

And praise God that our Anchor is sure for where would we be as poor sinners without our Anchor.

Horatius Bonar on the Anchor of our Soul part 4

The anchor must be something out of ourselves: not our duties, nor our saintship, nor our walk with God, nor our evidences of the Spirit’s work within us, nor our strength of love — not any, nor all of these together! The anchor of a ship is something that lies without, and by being without secures it. That which quiets and assures the uneasy conscience and troubled soul of a sinner, is what he hears in the glad tidings. It is something said or shown to him by God. It is something that tells him, not of the feelings of his own heart, but of the heart of God. It is something that shows him the face of God, that he may read there, “God is love.” The work of Jesus, or rather Jesus Himself, in this way becomes the sure “anchor of the soul.” - Horatius Bonar

What a humbling way of expressing it - the anchor must be something out of ourselves. We can truly do nothing to soothe our souls on our own. Our surety must come from elsewhere.

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Hebrews 6:18-20

Horatius Bonar on the Anchor of our Soul part 3

Who is our anchor?

Jesus is the anchor. He has been at the bottom of the depths of wrath, and His strength was tried and found perfect. Nothing can keep your souls from being tossed but this only; for nothing else resists the storm of God’s wrath. Your duties are not the anchor: can they endure the fierce blast of Divine displeasure? Your feelings and frames are not the anchor: can they stand the sudden dash even of one wave from the world, far less from the Holy God? The Spirit’s work in you is not your anchor; it is the cargo, or the vessel stores, which the sure anchor preserves from damage. Some mourn and say, Ah, if I had sinned less I should have had less difficulty in finding peace. Now, are you not forging an anchor out of your supposed goodness? If you could put so many acts of holiness in the place of those many sins, you would straightway form an anchor out of these. Others say, Oh, if I could only see that I had faith, I should then be at rest. Now you are just trying to make your cable your anchor; for faith is the cable that connects the anchor with the soul. Instead of distressing yourself about your own faith, be occupied with observing the soundness and steadfastness of the anchor, and your soul will be no longer tossed.

The anchor must be something out of ourselves: not our duties, nor our saintship, nor our walk with God, nor our evidences of the Spirit’s work within us, nor our strength of love — not any, nor all of these together! The anchor of a ship is something that lies without, and by being without secures it. That which quiets and assures the uneasy conscience and troubled soul of a sinner, is what he hears in the glad tidings. It is something said or shown to him by God. It is something that tells him, not of the feelings of his own heart, but of the heart of God. It is something that shows him the face of God, that he may read there, “God is love.” The work of Jesus, or rather Jesus Himself, in this way becomes the sure “anchor of the soul.”

How sweet it is that our anchor is not of ourselves and does not rely on our performance.

Horatius Bonar on the Anchor of the Soul part 2

The anchor of the soul is found in the glad tidings concerning Christ. The awakened sinner’s question is, Will the holy God pardon my sins? He is tossed up and down till he gets this question answered. He feels as if he were the chief of sinners, and as if it were more difficult for God to pardon him than to pardon Manasseh, or Paul, or Magdalen, or any other sinner in the world. There seems to be the black gloom of wrath, the frown of severe displeasure, on the face of God. Oh, who can tell the anguish of that soul! It wishes to be at peace, yet knows not how. It looks around for rest, but knows not where to find it.

Hear then, “O thou afflicted, and tossed with tempest!” Behold it is written concerning the Lord Jesus, “Thy wrath lieth hard upon Me, and Thou hast afflicted Me with all Thy waves” (Ps. 88:7). This is the voice of one who has been cast like Jonah into the waves; and now he is in the lowest deep. The floods compass him about, and the billows pass over him! Is this a shipwrecked sinner? No — it is Jesus allowing the tempest to dash the billows of wrath against His own person. And to this He submits in order that He may show to all, that sin deserves nothing less than such a storm of the Almighty’s burning wrath. To this He submits, in order that it may be seen how the Holy One abhors to the uttermost every sin of every form — deed, word, or thought. But glad tidings now! Jesus who sank into the depths of this sea, and was buried under its mountain load, reaches the shore, and stands there declaring that “whosoever believeth in Him shall not come into condemnation.” Whosoever will agree that this Savior be his surety, shall not need to plunge into these waves himself, but shall be treated by God as if his sins had been already punished in that fierce storm that spent its violence on Jesus. Is this not rest to your soul? It shows you how justly and holily God may turn His anger from you; how He expresses His utmost displeasure against your sins, and yet saves you! Is not this quieting to your anxious conscience? Is it not an anchor? (Horatius Bonar, The Anchor of the Soul, emphasis mine).

Where else can we find this comfort for our souls? Who else can remove the dread? Let's be thankful this day for our Sovereign Lord tyhat takes away our sin and leaves an Anchor for our souls.

Horatius Bonar on The Anchor of the Soul

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. — Heb. 6:19

He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still; then are they glad because they be quiet, so He bringeth them unto their desired haven. — Ps. 107:29-30

Roar on, ye waves, our souls defy
Your roaring to disturb our rest;
In vain t’impair the calm ye try —
The calm in a believer’s breast.

This world is a sea of perpetual storm; yet in it there are many souls who have found “peace and safety.” All these at one time heard the fearful howling of the tempest of wrath, and were tossed with its fury — but yet they have not suffered shipwreck — they have escaped it all. They hear the tempest still, and its ground-swell often heaves them in their safe anchorage; but their security is never shaken. These are sinners who have fled to the hope set before them, “which hope they have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” The world dislikes and despises these souls; for they were earnest in fleeing from the storm, and the careless world is sore galled by their unfeigned earnestness. They cast away all unnecessary lading, “counting it but dung that they might win Christ,” and having so done, they found Christ an anchor, “sure and steadfast.” But the world is not possessed of this, and therefore hates those who declare it to be their only security in the time of storm. And while the sinner who has betaken himself to this hope proclaims the safety of the anchorage he has found, they who will not flee to it decry his confidence as presumption, pride, vainglory! The world feels that if he be completely safe, then they are altogether wrong — if his hope be real, then they have no hope at all.

But come and examine the anchor, and the shore on which it is cast. There is a hope set before you — a hope of escape. The voice of God in the storm urges you to flee to this hope. It is spoken of fully in Hebrews 6:19-20. It is a hope which is an anchor of the soul. This anchor is itself sure and strong. It will not break nor let go its hold. The shore too on which it is cast is so solid and firm, that the anchor fixed therein will remain steadfast in spite of storm, and wind, and dashing wave. - Horatius Bonar, The Anchor of the Soul.

Feeling anxious today? Many of us are but we have no need to be. Christ is the Anchor of our souls and so we need not worry. Step out in faith today, Christain friend, and do what you need to do. Rejoice, pray and give thanks in everything for Christ is our Anchor.