Good morning. It's very humbling. I second what Brother David said
last night. It's so humbling to be here,
number one, and I think about this every time I come to a conference.
Do you realize how many people in Lexington, Kentucky are not
here? Do you realize how blessed we
are to be here? And those of us who've traveled from other
places, do you realize how many people in our towns have no desire
to drive here to do this? We're so blessed. And I was at
the same service that Brother David was at in 1986 when he
met Todd. And Brother Donnie was preaching in the same meeting. And I'm humbled. I'm very humbled. Thank you for
having me. Thank you. Turn with me, if you would, to
Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, there is a verse of scripture
in this chapter that every time I hear this, I think that could
be the best news a child of God could ever hear. Along with verses like, This man receives sinners. Do you ever just ponder that? You see those signs, we buy gold. You know who ought to go there?
People who have gold and want to get rid of it. You know who
ought to come to this man? People who have sinned and want
to get rid of it. This man receives sinners. Along
with verses like that and verses like It is finished. Along with verses like, fear
not, I have redeemed thee, thou art mine. Along with comforting verses
like that, I believe this is one of the most comforting things
that a child of God could ever hear. Hebrews 13 verse 8 says,
Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. That's good news. That's good
news. In a world where everything is
changing around us, Everything is changing, society is changing,
and the world is changing, and I think morality is changing,
and general safety is changing, and you know, you used to could
just let your kids go in the morning, we'll see you tonight. Everything is changing. Doesn't
it comfort your heart to hear that Jesus Christ is the same? He's the same. He's exactly the
same. What he was, that's what he is. And that's what he will forever
be. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. I don't think we realize how
much we fear change. I don't think we realize how
much we fear change. Hannah and I have two children. We have two little, little baby,
two little tiny girls that we carry around in car seats and
we push them in strollers. Things changed. It's not like
that anymore. There are so many things that
only get better as they grow up, but there are so many things
I wasn't ready to give up. Every parent in here knows what
I'm talking about. We look back at old home videos
of the girls, and I think if I could just have them back like
that for one more day, just one more day, in their simple innocence, in
the safety of our home, Now I have Isabella driving all
over the place, going everywhere she wants to go, and I got Sophie
bribing Isabella to drive her all over the place to take her
wherever she wants to go. When Sophie was four years old,
Her birthday was starting to get close, and we were sitting
in a restaurant, and she was talking about her birthday coming
up. And it was a very, very serious conversation for her. She had
some things that she was saying about it. And I said, Sophie,
honey, I think I've decided that I'm not going to be able to let
you turn five. I'm sorry. And she was taken back by that
statement. She said, please, Dad, I want
to turn five. I said, no, I don't think so,
honey. I just don't think I can allow that to happen. And she sat there for a minute
and she said, if you let me turn five, I won't turn six, seven,
or eight. And I thought about that for
a second, and I said, if I let you go ahead and turn five, you
promise me you won't turn six, seven, or eight. And she said,
no, sir. I said, OK, you can turn five. And you're never going
to believe this, but she lied to me. Our lives have changed and changed
and changed. And although it can be good in
so many ways, it can be a little bit sad too. Depending on what
the subject matter is that we're talking about, change can be
one of the most devastating things that happens to us. Doesn't it
comfort your heart to hear that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What he was declared to be, what we know him to be from what
he was declared to be, that's what he is. That's what He will
forever be. We can count on the stability
of that. There is so much stability with
Him. So much stability in Him. Let's look at some of the ways
and some of the things that the Lord Jesus Christ has and will
forever remain the same in it. Turn with me over to Psalm 47. Psalm 47 verse 8 says, God reigneth. E-T-H. Not reigned, not will reign. God reigneth right now. Right now. Verse 8 says, God
reigneth over the heathen. God sitteth. That means right now. God sitteth upon the throne of
his holiness. Does it comfort your heart to
know that His sovereignty is the same? It's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. God is sovereign. That means
God rules and controls. And even though we're so weak
and we're so fickle, our flesh is so weak and we forget That's
why we come in here, that's why we open up this word and then
we say, oh yeah, I forgot. He reigns, he rules, he controls,
he owns, he reigneth, he sitteth. Look at Psalm 93. I love this psalm. Psalm 93,
verse 1 says, The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength. Wherewith he hath girded himself.
The world also is established that it cannot be moved. Thy
throne is established of old, thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O
Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods lift
up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier
than the noise of many waters. Yea, the mighty waves of the
sea, thy testimonies are very sure. Holiness becometh thine
house, O Lord, forever. His sovereignty, his authority,
his testimony, his word, his holiness is. I am. Brother Donnie, this just touched
my soul. We were standing right there
just 30, 45 minutes ago, and in his generosity, and in his
kindness, and in his experience, and in his love, he said, if
anybody does any preaching today, I hope it's you. And then he
stood up, and I thought he was about to preach my message. I
am. He's the same. He doesn't change. Look at Psalm 97, verse 1. It says, The Lord reigneth. Let the earth rejoice. Let the
multitude of isles be glad thereof. The Lord reigneth. You say, yeah,
but that's the Old Testament. That was all saying that He reigned
in the Old Testament. That was 2,500 years ago. We'll turn to Revelation 19.
This is speaking of a moment that hasn't happened yet. This
is a moment that's yet to come when time will be no more. I can't wait to be a part of
this. Revelation 19 verse 6, And I heard, as it were, the
voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters,
and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth. His sovereignty is the same yesterday
and today, And forever, forever. His sovereign authority, His
sovereign power, His sovereign Word. This Word right here, the
Word of God. 1 Peter 1.23 says, It liveth
and abideth. Forever. Does that make you glad? I know that people think this
is old fashioned and people think this has changed and it doesn't
apply anymore, but it's not so. It's just not so. Every word
of this book will stand forever. It will stand forever. Not one
word will ever fail. Every promise stands true. Every covenant Every covenant
promise. David said, although it be not
so with my house, the Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure. Every covenant promise will stand. Whether it's a promise of judgment
or mercy. Whether it's a promise of judgment
or mercy. Every one of them will stand,
and it's because our God is eternally holy. Holy, holy, holy. The seraphims still cry that
continually. God is still holy. His holiness does not change. Malachi 3, 6, I am the Lord,
I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not concerned. Thank God His holiness is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. He will by no means clear the
guilty because He is holy. But thank God He will by no means
punish the innocent because He's holy. He's holy. His holy justice will stand forever. And if we have been made innocent
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, His holy justice will
stand forever. Forever. Turn over to 2 Timothy
2. 2 Timothy 2 verse 19, it says,
Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure, having
this seal, the Lord knoweth. He still knows. He still knows. He knew, he foreknew,
he knows, and he will forever know
them that are his. His election of the people who
were made to be so precious to him, that election will stand
forever. His redemption that He made on
the cross of Calvary with His own blood for every one of those
elect people that were made to be precious to Him. That redemption
will stand forever. We sinners are constantly, you
will know what I mean by this. If the Lord has called you to
himself, you'll know what I mean by this. We sinners are constantly
worried about messing up or ruining or losing God's favor toward
us. You know what I'm talking about? The redemption of Christ yesterday,
which satisfied God and the law and judgment yesterday, that
same redemption still satisfies God and the law and judgment
and justice and my guilty conscience today and it will forever. God's favor toward his people
Don't leave those two words out. God's favor toward His people
in Christ is eternal. It's eternal. Oh, that touches
my soul. Redemption is eternal. Salvation
is the same yesterday, today, forever. Salvation from our sin through
the cross of Christ, it's finished. It's finished. It was finished.
It will forever be finished. It's the same. What He said it
was from the cross, it's the same. What He said it was, that's
what it is. It's the same. It's finished.
Turn over to Psalm 103. Psalm 103 verse 1 says, Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His
holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
forget not all His benefits. Now, I want us to recognize the
fact that what we're about to read here, this is all in present
tense. All right, let's really notice
that. This is all in present tense. Verse three says, who
forgiveth. Right now. Right now. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities. Who healeth all of our spiritual diseases
right now. You say, well, didn't he forgive
us and heal us 2,000 years ago on the cross of Calvary? Weren't
we forgiven and healed in that very moment? Yes, we were. But who he was, our forgiver
and our healer, that's who he is. What he did, that's what
he does. What we needed, That's what we
need. And the reason is because we
haven't changed either. We're still the same too. Our sinful flesh is still exactly
the same. What we needed, that's what we
need. Therefore, what He did, that's
what He does. Do you feel like you need forgiveness
every single day? Do you feel like that? Do you
feel like you need to ask Him for forgiveness every single
day? Verse three says, who forgiveth,
and forgiveth, and forgiveth, and forgiveth, and forgiveth. All your inequities. And He healeth, and He healeth,
And He healeth. Verse 4 says, who redeemeth thy
life from destruction, who crowneth and crowneth and crowneth thee
with lovingkindness. His love for us remains the same. It remains the same. We say,
why? I'm so unlovely. I know. But Christ is altogether lovely.
And His love for us is not based on us. It's based on Christ. Therefore, God's love remains
the same. His loving kindness, His tender
mercy, It remains the same. We wake up every single morning
and His mercy and His compassion toward us is exactly like it
was yesterday. It's the same. Look at verse 13 right here.
It says, Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth. It's not just that He pitied,
therefore He saved us. He pitieth, He pitieth them that fear Him,
for He knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. Verse 15 says, Now ask for man. Let's talk about man for just
a second. His days are His grass. As a
flower of the field, so he flourisheth. The wind passes over it, it's
gone. The place thereof shall know
it no more. Verse 17 says, but the mercy of the Lord. Let's
go back to, that's enough about man. Let's go back to the Lord. The mercy of the Lord is from
everlasting to everlasting. Upon them that fear him, his
righteousness is unto children's children. Thank God the mercy of the Lord
remains the same. He remains the same. Look right
here at Psalm 104, verse 31. It says, The glory of the Lord remains
the same. The glory of the Lord shall endure
forever. The Lord shall rejoice in His
works. His glory, His majesty. Matthew 6, 13, it says, Thine
is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Romans 11, 36, it says, Of Him,
through Him, and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. 1 Timothy 1, 17 says, Now unto
the King eternal. Immortal, invisible, the only
wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever, amen. If any man glory, let him glory
in the Lord forever. Forever. And it's because his
glory will remain the same forever. The glory of who he is as prophet,
priest, and king. We hear about him being our prophet,
our priest, and our king. As our prophet, his word will
stand forever. As our priest, his intercession
will stand forever. His priesthood is unchangeable.
As our king, and I love this, as our king of his kingdom, there
shall be no end. There's going to be no end. We're
going to see Him sitting on that throne forever. Nobody's taking
over. Nobody's dethroning Him. Forever. Thank God He remains the same
forever. His means of calling His people
to Himself is the same. It's the same. And it's because His message
is still the same. This gospel, the only gospel
that there is that we've been hearing, is the same gospel today that
it was yesterday and that it's going to be forever. Same gospel. Aren't you glad? We're going
to get to hear this forever from the preacher. And it's going
to be good. Thank God. Oh, the comfort and
the stability. Oh, the hope that is laid up
for us in Christ. This same Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ, This is one, I opened with all these comforting verses.
This is one of them right here. Don't you love thinking about
all the apostles standing there gazing into heaven? And those
two angels dressed in white robes said, what in the world are y'all
doing? This same Jesus is gonna come back down just like you
watched him go up. Same man. Same man. Do you know I'm not the same
man I was when I was born because I have all new cells and I don't
know much about science, but they tell me I don't even have
one cell in my body that I had when I was born. Not this man. Everything about this man is
the same. The scars are the same. The personality,
the character, the sayings, the laugh, the voice, The singing, I can't wait. I
really enjoyed hearing David sing, but I can't wait to hear
Jesus Christ sing. He's the same. This man is the
same. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the same yesterday, today, forever. All may change,
but the Lord Jesus, never. Glory to his name. Amen.