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Good morning, and we welcome you to Kootenai Church. Would you please stand with us this morning as we begin our worship with a call to worship from Psalm 118.
And it says, Psalm 118, verse 22, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
This is from Yahweh. It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which
Yahweh has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Oh Yahweh save, oh
Yahweh succeed. Blessed is the one who comes in the name of Yahweh. We have blessed you from the house of Yahweh.
Let us sing together Psalm 118, the glorious gates of righteousness. The glorious gates of righteousness, throw open unto me, and I will enter them with grace.
Oh Lord, my God to Thee, and I will enter them with grace.
Oh Lord, this is
Thy temple gate. Oh Lord, the just shall enter there.
My Savior, I will give Thee thanks. Oh Thou that hearest prayer.
The stone rejected and despised is now the cornerstone.
How wondrous are the ways of God unfathomed.
In this the day that Thou hast made triumphantly we sing.
Send now prosperity, oh Lord. Oh Lord, salvation bring.
Oh bless me the Lord, God my rock and my might.
He trains me for battle, my hands for the fight.
My fortress deliverer, my refuge and shield.
He brings down my foes and beneath me they yield.
Oh Lord, what is man that You recognize him.
The son of man that You are mindful of him. For man is but vapor, his brief earthly days.
Are just like a shadow which passes away.
Ancient of days. Oh Lord, stretch
Your hand from the heavens above. Deliver and save me from strangers and floods.
Their tongues speak so falsely and truth they despise.
Their right hand they hold forth to swear to their lies.
A new song to You, oh my God, I will sing. And offer my praise on a harp of ten strings.
You give thanks their triumph Your hand has, oh Lord. Have David Your servant from earth by the sword.
Most holy, most glorious, the ancient of days.
Almighty, victorious, Your great name we praise.
Most holy, ancient of days.
By mercy my God is the theme of my song. The joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue.
Thy free grace alone from the first to the last. Hath won my affections and bound my soul fast.
It would reduce me to utter despair.
But through Thy free goodness my spirits revive. And He that first made me still keeps me alive.
Thy mercy is more than a match for my heart. Which wonders to feel its own hardness depart.
Dissolved by Thy goodness I fall to the ground. And weep for the praise of the mercy
I find. Hallelujah.
Mercy's Thy goodness I own. And the covenant love of Thy crucified
Son. All praise to the Spirit whose working divine.
Seals mercy at pardon and righteousness mine. All praise to the
Spirit whose working divine. Seals mercy at pardon and righteousness mine.
You may be seated.
Next Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, our celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And so there's a few things to keep in mind for next Sunday's worship service. First, there's no Sunday school next week, no adult
Sunday school or kids Sunday school. Instead, we have a breakfast that we do every Resurrection Sunday here on that morning.
Details for that are in your bulletin. But a couple of things I just want to mention. If you plan on showing up for that, please do sign up on the sign -up sheet.
I think we have 170 people coming for that breakfast next week. And you can come at any time during that window that you see in the bulletin.
I didn't check to see what time we're supposed to be here, but it's in your bulletin, the details are. And a couple things in relation to that.
First, Thomas could use a couple more people to help. Typically, the ladies put on all of our potlucks throughout the course of the year, fall potluck and winter potluck and all of that.
This is the opportunity for the guys to do all the setup and the cleanup and the cooking on Resurrection Sunday.
So men, we still need four or five people to help out with that. If you would be willing to do so, please talk to Thomas after the service today.
And then in preparation for next week's service, there's a choir practice today at 1215
Sharp, 1215 Sharp. So I'm not sure where they're supposed to meet.
They're supposed to meet up here at the front at 1215 after the service today. And then lastly, in regards to next week, last
Resurrection Sunday was a huge Sunday in terms of people showing up. It was packed.
Remember, there were people out in the foyer and all of that. So in preparation for a large attendance next week, we're gonna set up a few extra rows of chairs here and there, a few more chairs.
And we're also gonna have some of the deacons will be ushering people in and finding empty spots. So you'll see them around the front up here, ushering people in.
That'll be kind of a new thing that we're doing next week. And then my last announcement is last week,
I mentioned the new book that Dave and I wrote, the giveaway. It's on the table out there. If you didn't get a copy last week, you can get a copy this week.
The book is free for this month, March, this Sunday and next Sunday, and also free in this month is
Dave's signature. He has graciously agreed to sign the books without any cost. Your gift to him is to ask him for his autograph.
His gift to you is to give it without cost. So make sure you get a free copy. And just, Dave will be easy to find.
It's a small facility. So get his signature in it before you leave today. Turn in your
Bibles, if you would, please, to the book of Hebrews, to chapter one, Hebrews chapter one.
We're gonna read together this entire first chapter of the book of Hebrews, Hebrews one.
This is chapter about Christ. And to give you something of an introduction to it, the author here is contrasting
Jesus with the angels. And he is going back and forth saying, to the angels,
Yahweh says this, to the divine son, he says this, to the angels, he says this, to the son, he says this, et cetera.
So that's the contrast. And he's quoting here from some Psalms in the Old Testament, Hebrews one.
God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world.
And he, that is Christ, the son, is the radiance of his glory and the exact representation of his nature and upholds all things by the word of his power.
When he had made purification of sins, he sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels as he has inherited a more excellent name than they.
For to which of the angels did he ever say, you are my son, today I have begotten you. And again,
I will be a father to him and he shall be a son to me. And when he again brings the firstborn into the world, he says, let all the angels of God worship him.
And of the angels, he says, who makes his angels winds and his ministers a flame of fire. But of the son, he says, your throne,
O God, is forever and ever. And the righteous scepter is the scepter of his kingdom.
You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness. Therefore, God, your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions.
And you, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the works of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain. And they all will become old like a garment. And like a mantle, you will roll them up.
Like a garment, they also will be changed, but you are the same and your years will not come to an end.
But to which of the angels has he ever said, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.
Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to render service for the sake of those who inherit salvation? You stand with me as we pray.
Our blessed and most merciful God, you, by your great mercy, have called us to yourself and granted us salvation in your
Son. Out of your deep and eternal love for us, your people, you sent the
Son into the world to live a perfect life and then to bear the burden for our sin and to pay the penalty for our sin.
And so we thank you that by your grace you have brought us to salvation by opening our eyes and causing us to be born again to a living hope by granting us repentance from sin and also faith to believe and trust the promises of the gospel.
We thank you for your unchanging character and nature, your unchanging purposes and plan for us, your unchanging glory, for your unchanging majesty.
We thank you that when all of this present creation is rolled up like a garment, that you will remain forever and those who are in your
Son will remain with you forever. We thank you for the blessing and the grace of our salvation and the glory that awaits those who are in Christ.
And it is for that reason that we are able to gather here together and to worship you today, to sing your praise, to fellowship around your word and we would ask that you would help us by your grace and the power of the
Spirit to sing, to speak, to fellowship, to worship as we should.
Help us to direct our hearts and affections to Christ and to you, our great God, for all that you have done for us in Him.
May you be the focus of our minds and our hearts this morning and may you remove from us the distractions of this life, of our week and of our day here and cause us in our hearts to simply rest upon Christ and to repose ourself in His good grace.
Be glorified and honored through us as we worship you today in spirit and in truth and around your truth.
We pray in the name who is the truth. Amen. Let us love and sing and wonder
Let us praise the Savior's name He has hushed the law's loud thunder
He has quenched Mount Sinai's flame He has washed us with His blood
He has washed us with His blood He has washed us with His blood
He has brought us nigh to God He praised and taught us
Gave us ears and gave us eyes He has washed us with His blood
He presents our souls to God He shall bring us home to God Under grace and justice
Join and point to mercy's door When through grace and Christ our trust is
Justice smiles and asks no more To praise to God a saint and throne
Here they trusted Him before us Now their praises fill the sky
Thou hast washed us with Thy blood Thou hast washed us with Thy blood
Thou hast washed us with Thy blood Thou our worthy
Lamb of God In James chapter 1 and verse 17 it says
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above Coming down from the
Father of lights With whom there is no variation or shifting shadow We're going to end our music service this morning and sing together
Our Great God Eternal, changing, mysterious and unknown
Your boundless love, unfailing
Grace and mercy show Bright seraphim in ceaseless flight
Around Your glorious throne They raise their voices day and night
It brings to you a new Hallelujah Glory be to Our Great God Blessing the storm
Surround us with Your angels
Hold us in Your arms Our cold and ruthless enemy
His pleasure is our harm
Rise up, O Lord, and He will flee
Before our Sovereign God Hallelujah to Our Great God How every creature in the sea
And every flying field
The earth, the stars, thanks to the living
God Glory be to Our Great God Glory be to Our Great God And all
God's people said, Amen And turn now please to Hebrews chapter 13
Hebrews chapter 13 We'll read together verse 7, beginning of verse 7 and we'll read through the end of verse 14
Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods through which those who were so occupied were not benefited
We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat for the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin are burned outside the camp
Therefore, Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate
So let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach for here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come
Let's bow our heads Our Father, we pray that You would turn our affections and our hearts to You and to Your truth
We pray that You would sanctify us by Your word and the preaching of it by our meditation upon this truth
We have the confidence that when Your word is rightly preached Your voice is truly heard and we pray now that our hearts and our minds may hear
You speaking in the text of this Scripture concerning Your nature, Your character, and Your purposes
May You be honored through our meditation and our time in Your word for the glory of Christ, in whose name we pray
Amen We are creatures that are given to change, constantly changing sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly sometimes we feel the change, sometimes we don't
As people, we get tired and then we are energetic after we rest and then we get tired again after that we go from being hungry to full and then back to being hungry, from thirsty to satiated and then back to being thirsty again
Our emotions change, our affections, our thoughts, our purposes, intentions desires, our likes, our dislikes, our mental capabilities our inclinations, our intellect, our skills, our gifts, our abilities all of them change and we live in a world that is constantly changing and we live in a world surrounded by other creatures that are constantly changing
In fact, the only thing in our world that we really associate with never changing is rocks and Scripture uses rock as an illustration of a
God who does not change but like all illustrations of God that one fails in that rocks still change imperceptible to us, imperceptible to the naked eye and imperceptible to us even in our lifetime but rocks do change rocks are wet and then they are dry they are hot and then they are cold rocks crack and they split open rocks leak out subatomic particles into the atmosphere rocks also absorb subatomic particles the makeup of rocks changes over time as different chemicals are leaked out of them by weather and rain and by erosion and even by sunshine they crack and erode and slowly degrade and so even rocks change in fact there is nothing in all of our experience nothing in all of our world and all of our life that does not change everything is fraught with change and all of the uncertainties of life that cause us anxiety and angst and stress and churning in our gut all of those things are due to changes it's because things change that we worry if we knew that everything was always going to be the same then we would never have anything to worry about but things change political situations change economies change monetary supply changes politicians change policy changes with the whims of the most feckless and cowardly people somebody can change from being an ally to an adversary overnight everything around us changes everything in our environment changes all of our circumstances change the entire cosmos is changing and therefore when we read something like Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8 that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever how that is a solace to the sin -weary heart how that is a comfort to people who could be in angst over all of the uncertainties of life to know that there is something better someone who never changes
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever to the anxious believer who is tossed about by life's storms and the afflictions that is comfort to the persecuted believer who is threatened to be overcome by adversaries and the hostility of the world that is comforting to the believer who is getting to the end of their race and looking as it were at the finish line as you're getting up in years and you're starting to think about the realities of what is to come and going through death that reality that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever that is very comforting and encouraging and that is our text here this morning we're just going to meditate upon that profound truth and as I prepared this and as I went over this throughout the course of this week and this morning
I came to the realization that there are all kinds of implications and applications that I could draw from this that would gobble up weeks of Sundays but I'm not going to do that we're going to just consider today the theology behind this this statement that Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever because there are certain things that that is not true of regarding the person of Christ we'll see that in a moment there are certain things that that does not describe and certain things that it does describe and for the sake of clarity in our theology we have to know what those are then
I want to show you how that truth is connected here to the context and why it fits so gloriously in between verse 7 and verse 9 and then we want to consider some of the implications and the applications of that profound truth for both the believer and the unbeliever so let's begin first with the theology behind that statement this is the theology of immutability immutability it's a big kind of theological word it simply means the unchangingness of God and not just that God doesn't change but that God cannot change
He by His nature is immutable He must be the same yesterday, today, and forever so if we are to say that Christ has not changed that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever that is a statement of divinity this is the way that the author describes one who is in His essence and in His nature unchanging from all of eternity past to all of eternity future and of course that includes today yesterday does not refer here to the time during the lives of the leaders that are mentioned in verse 8 some have suggested it that the author here is referring back to the leaders in verse 8 and saying in their days, the leaders
Christ was the same and He is the same today in fact the author here is using a proverbial expression to describe the unchangingness of Christ from all of eternity past to all of eternity future which of course includes today
He must therefore be divine for only God can be said to be not only eternal but also eternally unchanging whatever does not change must be uncreated and therefore divine even angels change in the sense that angels learn things and know things and their knowledge therefore changes and angels at a point did not exist and now they do exist so that is a change in the nature of angels from being not to being something that's a change anything and everything that is created changes and so to call
Christ unchanging and the same yesterday, today and forever is to affirm His deity John Owen says that this is a kind of proverbial speech wherein respect is had unto all seasons to denote the eternity and immutability of Christ in them all big fancy way of saying this is simply a proverbial phrase
He's the same yesterday, today and forever it's a proverbial phrase that simply describes Christ in all seasons and in all circumstances as unchanging in His essence and in His nature it's like Revelation chapter 1 verse 4 where we read grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come kind of a proverbial way a poetic way of saying concerning one who has always existed and who exists now and who will always exist that is
Christ yesterday and eternity of yesterdays and eternity of todays and an eternity of tomorrows
He is always the same and wherever you in the timeline of those eternal todays find yourself wherever you are at with whatever circumstances you are going through Christ is unchanging
He is absolutely the same in His essence this is not a new concept in the book of Hebrews back at chapter 1 which we read earlier in the service the author says essentially the same thing and I won't have you turn there and read all of it but we observed there the difference between the angels the angelic host to whom
Yahweh says certain things and then the divine son whom He brings into the world to whom Yahweh says other things chapter 1 verse 8 but of the son
He says your throne O God is forever and ever that's a magnificent statement because there the author of Hebrews is saying that Yahweh the father said to the son your throne
O God is forever and ever you have the father calling the son God and affirming
His deity there and the righteous scepter is the scepter of His kingdom you have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness therefore
God your God has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions and you
Lord in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth and the heavens are the work of your hands that is describing the eternal and unchanging
Christ and then the author says this and they that is the heavens will perish but you remain and they all will become old like a garment and like a mantle you will roll them up and like a garment they will be changed but you are the same and your years will not come to an end
Yahweh the father says to a different person Yahweh the son your throne
O God is forever and ever the scepter of righteousness is the scepter of your kingdom and though all of creation which you have made and laid the foundations of though all of it will eventually be rolled up like a scroll you never change and you endure forever that's the father speaking to the son so it shouldn't surprise us now that we get to the end of the book of Hebrews and we have the author returning to the theme that he started the book of Hebrews with namely the deity of Jesus Christ and His unchanging nature
Psalm 90 verse 2 says before the mountains were born and you gave birth to the earth and the world even from everlasting to everlasting you are
God this is almost an inconceivable thought if you allow your mind to go back as far as your mind can go back prior to the creation of the world and then think back eons and eons beyond that and then multiply that times a million as if time could exist back then as it does now then you go back to that point and say okay
I have gone past creation to the point of a million times where my mind can go and then realize you haven't even touched the edge of eternity past yet and then you realize at that point
God was and He always was and He has never changed and He is never changing and then just zip forward in your mind to the future and 10 ,000 millennia into the new heavens and the new earth that same
God will exist and He will never change and His days will not come to an end that is almost an unfathomable reality but it is true
Malachi 3 verse 6 for I the Lord do not change here is the application of that therefore you oh sons of Jacob are not consumed see
God's unchanging nature is the very reason why Israel existed in the covenant why God did not destroy that nation in the way that would have meant their complete end and their complete destruction you are not consumed because I do not change my purposes do not change and because that is true
God can be trusted to keep His word the same quality of eternal immutability is here in this passage applied to Christ He doesn't change and He can't change think of it this way it is impossible for God to change because if God is
God then He must be absolutely perfect perfect in all of His attributes perfect in all of His characteristics perfect in everything that could be said about Him He is perfect and infinitely perfect in every way that we could conceive of God from all of His various attributes perfect in all of them perfect in knowledge wisdom, power, understanding kindness, benevolence, grace, mercy holiness, justice, righteousness all of God's perfections all of His attributes are really
His perfections and He is infinitely perfect in all of them if God changes
He can only change in one of two ways He either would become better than who He is which means that He was not
God before He changed because by nature by definition God is that perfect being or He would have to change and become less than who
He was which means He would cease to be God and He can't cease to be God God can only change if He changes for the better or for the worse if He changes for the better He wasn't
God before if He changes for the worse He's not God afterward therefore He must be by His very nature unchanging and unchangeable now let me offer you two necessary qualifiers as we consider this in connection with the
Lord Jesus Christ this means that God and thus Christ by His divine nature is unchanging and unchangeable in regard to His nature not
His works His nature not His works I'll give you a simple illustration to describe what
I mean by that to illustrate what I mean by that often Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8 is quoted by Charismatics as a proof text to suggest that if God did something in the past He must be doing the same thing today
God gave the gift of tongues in the first century and Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever therefore the same gift of tongues must be available today
God did miracles in the past through miracle workers and since Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever the gift of miracles must still be going on in the church
God spoke to people in all kinds of ways in the past outside of Scripture through personal revelation private revelation voices, prophets, dreams, visions, etc.
and since Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever that same thing must be going on inside the church today get it?
that's how the verse is used by Charismatics but this verse is describing the nature and the essence of Christ not how
He works or how He works in various dispensations this verse has nothing to do with how
God works or the nature of His activities it has to do with the nature of our God the eternal and divine
Son the Savior of His people and how do I know that? because Hebrews is a book about things that have changed and the way
God has worked in the past that He no longer works presently it begins with this way in times past God spoke this way this way and this way now
He has spoken to us in His Son same God different way of working in fact, in our very context here verses 9 and following you have reference to the tabernacle and foods which were outlawed and prohibited and those who serve at the tabernacle that is the priesthood and the bodies of animals and animal sacrifices being brought into the holy place and then outside the camp do we do any of those things today?
no, there was a time when God worked through those means and in that manner, correct? but He does not anymore does that mean
His nature has changed? no, therefore it is irrelevant to the discussion of spiritual gifts or miracles or how
God speaks as to the nature of our God He simply spoke in one way at one time and He no longer speaks that way now
He gave this gift then He no longer gives it now that is not a violation of Hebrews chapter 13 verse 8 therefore the fact that God or Christ is the same yesterday today or forever has no bearing at all upon how
God works at different periods of time in history second clarification or qualification this describes not
Christ's humanity but His deity this describes His deity not His human nature the human nature of the
Lord Jesus Christ the nature of Christ is the same though His condition may have changed for instance this does not describe the condition in which
Christ was at all times there was a time when He was in heaven adored by angels and then there was a time in which
He was on earth being spit upon by men His condition changed His location changed
He was enthroned in heaven and then He slept under the stars He was without a human body at one point then
He was incarnated and took upon Himself a human nature the divine essence the nature did not change though the appearance of it and the manifestation of it and the location of where that nature was to be seen did change at some point and even the man
Christ Jesus we cannot say of His human nature that His human nature did not change or that nothing about the man
Christ Jesus changed because there were things about Him that did change Luke 1 verse 80 the child that is
Jesus continued to grow and to become strong in spirit here you have the man Christ Jesus who was
God in human flesh who in His humanity grew in His spirit and became strong in His spirit the child continued to grow and become strong increasing in wisdom
Luke 2 verse 40 says the man Christ Jesus increased in wisdom and He increased in stature
Luke 2 verse 52 says and Hebrews 5 verse 8 says that He that is the man Christ Jesus learned obedience through the things that He suffered so He learned things
He picked things up He increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men the man Christ Jesus developed though the nature
His essential nature as God the second person never did change but His human nature did change there was a time when
Jesus Christ the man Christ Jesus who was God man did not exist He was incarnated in human flesh that was a change but it was a change not of His essential nature but it was a change in the circumstances or His situation so when we say that He does not change we're not talking about the man the humanity of Christ Jesus Jesus got hungry and He thirsted and He drank and He was filled
He got tired and was rejuvenated by resting and sleeping those things about Him did change and did develop but Christ the divine nature never changes
He is the same yesterday today and forever now if you say to yourself I'm just trying to get my mind around that I agree with you that's hard to get your mind around but we have to we have to be able to express both of those realities concerning the man
Christ Jesus that there are certain things that we say about Him by virtue of His humanity there are certain things that we say and affirm about Him by virtue of His deity and we can affirm both of those of the man
Christ Jesus who is both God and man so what about Him then is the same His nature is the same
His power His knowledge His righteousness His wisdom kindness majesty goodness mercy glory justice wrath dominion grace holiness and deity none of those change none of them get better by the way none of them deteriorate none of them are exhausted none of them are altered none of them improve it's always the same and His purposes are the same
His eternal plan and His redemptive purposes they never change His desire to save His people from their sins
His intention to judge the impenitent in their sins and His desire and intention and purpose to make known the riches of His grace toward us in Christ Jesus none of those things change and His offices never change
He is forever the Son beloved by the Father He is forever the Savior of God's people forever our intercessor a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek He is forever the revealer of the
Father the Lamb of God who bore the sins of His people He is unchanging as our substitute our surety our kinsman redeemer our savior as the first fruits of our resurrection
He is unchanging as the One who is the King and rules all things as the bridegroom of the church the head of the church the firstborn from the dead and He is forever unchanging as the judge who will come in to judge the living and the dead so what we say about Christ is that He is
Yahweh the unchanging One who stepped into time and history and took upon Himself a human nature and united Himself forever in that humanity so that He could live a perfect life and then die on a cross as the substitute for His people having lived under the law and then borne the curse of the law on behalf of His people
He bore our burden took away our sin through the sacrifice of Himself on the cross and then
He raised Himself from the grave in a glorified human body as the victor over sin and death and then has taken all of those whom the
Father has given to Him and He is bringing them to eternal life having secured our justification by His death and His resurrection and then
He presented Himself alive with many infallible proofs and then has ascended to the Father's right hand where He intercedes for us applying the merits of His sacrifice to those whom the
Father gave to Him in eternity past He intercedes for us now and He waits without change and without shifting shadow until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet and then
He will return again to judge the living and the dead and to establish His kingdom and His promise to Him and He will rule the nations with a rod of iron and He will destroy the wicked and He will destroy the impenitent and cast them into everlasting damnation and then
He will recreate this creation a new heavens and a new earth and He will bring us those who have trusted in Christ with Him into that new creation and we will rule and reign with Him for all of eternity in a creation that does not change does not wear out and never perishes
That is what He has promised to us How do I know for certain that that will happen? Because He does not change
He can't improve upon that plan He can't decide that that plan is not the best plan and then come up with some other plan
He can never ditch that plan because it is a perfect plan and it will bring Him a perfect amount of glory and therefore
His purposes cannot change and His nature cannot change The same unchanging
Jesus who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of His people promises you forgiveness for your sins even now because the day of His wrath is coming and He is unchanging in His determination to judge the impenitent and to cast them into everlasting shame and damnation but the day of mercy is now the day of clemency is now the day of forgiveness is now
Embrace that one or you will stand before an unchangingly righteous and holy and just God who will fulfill
His unchanging promise to cast you into everlasting damnation The unchanging Christ is as angry towards sin and towards sinners now as He was when
He sat as King over the flood and drowned the entire world except for eight people and He is as unchangingly righteous and holy today as He was when
He the second person rained down fire on Sodom and Gomorrah He is the unchanging
God Repent and trust Him come to this unchanging Savior and He will save you that is
His promise and that promise does not change neither does by the way the day of the ending of the day of grace there is a day fixed in which
He will judge the world in righteousness and God has given proof to all men by raising that judge from the dead
Acts 17 30 and 31 there is a day fixed and it is unchanging it is on God's calendar and He is not moving it around for our sake so seek forgiveness while it may be found so that's what this passage means now let's look at how it is connected to the context
I mentioned last week verse 8 kind of feels like it's sort of dropped into the middle of a paragraph that deals with leaders and teachers and teachings etc verse 8 you can see how easily it can be incorporated into verse 7 and it actually serves as sort of a perfect transition from 7 8 and 9 verse 7 you have the encouragement to remember those who led us and spoke the word of God to us considering the result of their conduct to imitate their faith
Jesus Christ this is the same yesterday today and forever there's that theological statement sort of buried right there in the middle of that paragraph and then verse 9 encourages us not to be carried away by varied and strange teachings how is it connected to verse 7 with the mention of leaders it's connected to that because the author is trying to remind us that the same leaders that we are to follow who spoke the word of God to us and were encouragement and brought us the gospel those leaders trusted in a
Christ who never changes and therefore we can never at any point get to our we can never get to a point where we say to ourselves that may have been good for those who are of a different age but it's not good enough for us we need something more no that Christ who sustained and encouraged and saved and sanctified and brought those of a previous generations through all of that to himself and has secured their everlasting glory that same
Christ is unchanging for you and I we never need anything more the same Jesus that was good enough for them is good enough for us and therefore look to that one who does not change and if the truth about him if he does not change then the truth about him does not change either that's verse 9 don't be carried away by varied and strange teachings these things that are new some
Johnny come lately who pops onto the scene says I have a new way of doing this a new way of thinking about this a new explanation for that don't be carried away to that nonsense all of the stuff mentioned in verses 9 through verse 14 that's filled with things that have changed the tabernacle the sacrifices the priesthood the offerings the feasts and the festivals all of those things have changed but there is one who stands above all of that who never changes and though his way of dealing with people and dealing with things may change over time his nature and his essence do not and therefore he is always sufficient now third let's consider the implications of this teaching oh by the way
I had a quote here that I almost skipped over but it's good enough that I want to back up and give it to you it's A .W. Tozer Tozer says this quote one of the most popular current errors and the one out of which springs most of the noisy blustering religious activity in evangelical circles is the notion that as times change the church must change with them close quote one of the most grievous errors to plague evangelicalism is the idea that just because times change the church must adapt to it that is wrong we will never do that we can never do that that does not mean that we don't use different means of communication online streaming social media overheads things like that technology it doesn't mean that but it means that the nature and essence of the church does not change why?
because our bride groom does not change and therefore the institution that he has created he has established and laid out that never needs to change now third let's consider the implications of this teaching if Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever then it means that he is forever the unchanging object of our faith the leaders who point to him will come and go but Christ never does the under shepherds may die they may be raised up by God and shepherd the church for a period of time and then they pass from the scene and they are forgotten but the great shepherd of the sheep never dies and never changes he remains the same culture may change and the political institutions may change technology the spirit of the age or the zeitgeist may change circumstances situations conditions and all of the cosmos may change but Christ never does he is forever and always the sure object of our faith and so we look to him with confidence and we repose ourselves in him and we rest in him and we trust in him and we preach him knowing all the time that in doing so he never changes he is the same for an eternity of yesterdays an eternity of todays and an eternity of tomorrows and because he never changes he is the sure object of his people object of faith for his people in all ages he is the one to whom we look and trust he is the one that we obey and worship he is reliable and always true because he never changes and therefore we can never find him to fail so we command men and women to ever to come to him and to believe upon him and trust in him and find rest for their sin weary souls find forgiveness and cleansing for their stained consciences and find atonement and payment for their mountains of iniquity he never changes he is always the same and for that reason he is the sure object of our trust second because Christ never changes he will remain the same as the judge of the impenitent forever and ever the judge of the impenitent he is the same whom we must kiss and do homage to or we will perish in the way he is the king who is given to rule over mount
Zion and reign over his people he is the rock of Daniel who will come in to crush all of the inferior kingdoms of this world he is the king who is making ready his enemies as a footstool for his feet he sat as king over the world during the flood and judged all of humanity and he is coming to judge the world with fire and that is not going to change he is the unchanging
Christ who it says in 2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7 will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire dealing out retribution to those who do not know
God and to those who do not obey the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ they will pay the penalty of eternal destruction away from the presence of the
Lord and from the glory of his power when he comes to be glorified in his saints on that day and to be marveled at among all who have believed for our testimony to you was believed he is not changed the same
Christ who took upon himself human flesh and came in Bethlehem and was in that manger in the incarnation that same
Christ is also the one who will come as the judge of the living and the dead he has been appointed as the judge of all men and he has promised and he has promised to damn those who will not turn from their sin and find forgiveness in him who will not trust his promise of reconciliation and forgiveness he will pour out his wrath on the head of sinners and the worm will not die and the fire will not stop because he will always be the one who judges the impenitent for their sin and that will never change he cannot forget a single sin that has ever been committed by rebels because he does not change he cannot forget you out of all of the mass of humanity on the final day what are the chances that when he raises all men from the dead to present them glorious before his father all his men and his people from the dead to present them glorious before his father on that final day what are the chances that you might be forgotten and left out it cannot happen because that king never changes third because Christ never changes his love for you is unchanging which means that from eternity past to eternity future he has never loved you less he will never love you less he has never loved you more and he will never love you more than he does right now his love for you cannot change
Spurgeon said this quote before the first star was kindled before the first living creature began to sing the praise of its creator he loved his church with an everlasting love he spied her in the glass of predestination pictured her by his divine foreknowledge and loved her with all his heart and it was for this cause that he left his father and to become one with her that he might redeem her close quote this is the love that motivated the incarnation it is an unchanging love it motivated his sacrifice he loves his sheep he gave his life for his sheep he was raised again for his sheep he brings his sheep to himself and he secures his sheep everlastingly because the love of our savior never changes it's the same love that is demonstrated on the cross is the love that was manifested in the triune
God from eternity past when he chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world it's the same love that will be poured out on you for all of eternity in fact if you can fast forward in your mind to that day when he presents you faultless before his throne with exceeding joy and if you can go forward to that day when he seats you at the wedding feast of the lamb and serves you that lavish supper and when he rejoices over you with love and lavishes you with grace and love in his eternal kingdom and he gives you all of the rewards and the promised inheritance all prepared beforehand for you when he recreates all of creation and gives it to you to rule and to reign and to enjoy everlastingly without sin or a curse or death or any of the things that defile this creation go forward in your mind to that day and imagine in that day when you are faultless before him without any sin the love that you will feel and the love that you will experience in that moment to its fullness infinite love that's the same love with which our
Savior loves us today that love is not going to improve it's not going to get better when we are without sin as if he begrudgingly loves us a little bit now and thinks man
I just I gotta swallow hard when I love those people but I can't wait for the day when they are out of their sin and removed from that and the curse is gone and they are in heaven then
I'm going to really love them no it's the same love that chose you in Christ from eternity past is going to lavish his grace on you in eternity future and it is the same love that caused him to sacrifice himself on a cross it is the same love with which he loves you today it will never grow old it will never diminish it can never diminish it will never increase it cannot increase infinite and perfect love can never get better than infinitely perfect and that's the perfect love that he has for you fourth since Christ does not change his intention to sanctify his church never changes he is as committed to expunging sin from your life and making you holy and conforming you to the image of Christ today as he was when he first saved you and as he will be on that final day when he raises you to everlasting life his intention to chasten you to discipline you to afflict you to love you through that affliction and to get sin out of your life and to make you holy his intention to do that is as strong today as it was when he chose you in Christ before the foundation of the world and he will not let you go and he will not let up on you until he has accomplished his purpose because that purpose will not change fifth if Christ never changes then his intention and his purpose to glorify you will not change either he will keep what has been entrusted to you to him he will not abandon your soul he will not leave you on the last day he will not forget you on the day of resurrection he will not forget that he chose you that he loved you that he sacrificed himself for you that he paid the price for your sin that he granted you the gift of faith and repentance that he brought you to this son and that he spent your lifetime sanctifying you when you die only to forget you on that day he cannot do that he will not do that and so his intention to glorify you and to present you without fault blameless in the presence of his father with exceeding joy that is an unchanging intention and he will not fail to bring to glory every last soul that has committed itself to him
Spurgeon said this he will never be content till all whom he has bought with his blood shall become glorified by his power that is glorious he will not be content until all who have been bought by his blood have been glorified by his power he will not turn from this purpose he will not abandon his plan he will not change his decree concerning you he will not for he cannot he is the same yesterday today and forever age after age always the same the same love the same savior the same holiness the same intention the immutability of our savior is the guarantee of his love for you even now so if you ever question his love or his wisdom his kindness his purposes for you you just remember that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever and while everything around you may change including listen carefully including the degree to which you feel loved in any moment that can change constantly that can change from day to day yesterday
I don't feel as loved by the lord then I come to church on Sunday and I sing of his love and I'm with his people and I really feel loved and then
Monday comes and I'm back at the grind and I don't feel loved anymore our affections and our feelings and how we react to the love of God is constantly changing because we are creatures of change but his love never does and the immutability of our savior is the guarantee of his love it is the guarantee of his sanctifying intention and it is the guarantee that he will raise you up on the last day and give to you that unshakable kingdom that he has promised to you along with all of the rewards and the inheritance that he has promised let's pray our father we bless your gracious and holy name you are our unchanging
God forever the same for that reason we do not stand consumed but we stand covered by the blood of your son because you are unchanging and because our savior is unchanging we know that your promises and your purposes and your intentions for us do not change either so we pray that you would comfort our hearts with this truth and help our minds and our hearts to reflect upon your goodness and your unchanging grace in our lives and in the lives of those around us we pray that we may rest in this and repose our sin weary hearts upon it and that you would comfort and encourage us by the truth of your immutability and your unchanging love thank you that even now you love us more than we could ever know more than we shall ever know and that has not changed it has never been better it will never be worse than it is right now thank you for your grace thank you for a savior who does not change like all of creation but instead is immutable and unchanging in all his purposes we love you for that and we thank you for it in Christ's name amen would you please stand with us as we end our service this morning and sing together great is thy faithfulness great is thy faithfulness
O God my Father there is no shadow of turning with thee thou changest not thy compassions they fail not as thou hast been now forever will be.
Great is Thy faithfulness. Great is
Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning good mercies
I see. All I have needed
Thy hand hath provided. Great is
Thy faithfulness Lord unto me.
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest sun, moon and stars in their courses above.
Joy with all nature and man in earth.
Thy mercy and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness. Great is Thy faithfulness.
Morning by morning good mercies I see. Pardon for sin and the peace that endureth.
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide.
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow.
Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside.
Great is Thy faithfulness. According to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to the obedience of Jesus Christ and the sprinkling of His blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Don't forget, if you're in the choir, we're going to meet up here at 12 .15. And then after the choir is finished, the music team is going to actually practice.
For those of you that don't know, we have a new sound board, so we have to work a few things into our system for next week. So it's going to be pretty loud in here, so you may want to congregate out in the hallway, just letting you know.