Turn with me, if you would, back
to Hebrews 13. Hebrews chapter 13. We're going to continue in this
chapter with verses 7 and 8. The writer to the Hebrews is
giving right here different admonitions. That's what it says at the top
of my page. Diverse admonitions. And we just saw that he admonished,
he exhorted brotherly love, unity of heart with fellow believers. He exhorted faithfulness to the
marriage union. And he declared the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great husband, the great shepherd
of the sheep, his faithfulness to us. He said at the end of
verse five, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I'll never leave you, I'll never
forsake you. Verse six says, so that we may
boldly say, the Lord is my helper, And I will not fear what man
shall do unto me, starting with this man. Now, the man who is
my greatest enemy lives inside this flesh right here. I will
not fear. The Lord has put comfort and
assurance in my heart that he'll never leave my soul. He'll never
forsake my soul so that I can amazingly boldly say the Lord
is my helper. He's my helper. He'll help me
and he'll keep me in spite of me, in spite of everything around
me. I can take comfort in the Lord,
my helper. And what comfort that really
is. That is true, true comfort. Now verse 7, he goes on to say,
Remember them which have the rule over you. And you may see
in the center margin that translates them which are the guides. Those who've been called to be
spiritual guides. I do not have the rule over you. Aren't you so glad for that?
I am. Nobody is more glad about that
than me. I am so, so glad for that. There is one ruler. There is
one owner and one controller. One God. There is one God. And His name is Jesus Christ. One God. The Apostle Peter said
in 1 Peter chapter 5, God's pastors are not lords over His heritage. God has put them there to be
examples to the flock and to feed the flock. That's what He
said. Feed the flock. I preach. I want to preach. I
try to preach and I desire to preach as one beggar telling
another beggar where he found some bread. Really. We're just sinners in the same
fellowship. God be merciful to us all. With
that being said, this is the greatest responsibility I've
ever known in my life. I've never known anything like
this. You can't know it until God puts
you into it. I've never known anything like
this. I've never... There's one God, there's one
ruler, there's one controller, there's one owner, one man is
in control of this whole thing. But this is the greatest burden
and responsibility I've ever known in my life. And he said in verse 7, remember
them, pray for them. I'm begging you, pray for me.
As I stand up in this pulpit, if God gives you one moment to
think this, pray for me, Lord, help him. Help him. Be with him. Don't leave him
to himself. Send your spirit, bless your
word. Remember them which are the spiritual
guides over you who have spoken unto you the word of God, he
said. That's how you can know if it's
a true God. I'm going to tell you that there are tons and tons
of false guides. Just because a man stands in
a pulpit, that does not mean he's a true God. God's preachers are known by
this. They preach the Word of God. They open the Word of God and
they preach the Word of God. Read one snippet of one little
verse, pull it out of context, and then go for 45 minutes on
some topic they want to talk about. They preach the Word of
God. They preach God's Word. Preach the Scriptures. They preach
the subject and the object of the Scriptures, which is the
Word. Christ. Christ. The Word in the beginning was
the Word. The Word was with God. The Word
was God. They preach the Word. He said,
every preacher who preaches that, follow him. Follow him. Not that he is leading anybody. He's not leading anybody. The
Apostle Paul said, follow me as I follow Christ. He said,
I'm being led by the Spirit and the Word and the call of Christ.
Just come with me. Let's all just follow Christ. Let's all follow Christ together. He said in verse seven, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, consider
the heart of their message. When you hear a man preach, consider what he's saying. Listen
to what he's saying. Consider the end of his message. Consider the conclusion he's
arriving at. What's the point of it? What's
he getting to? If they cry this, follow them. If this is their message, follow
them. Verse 8 says, Jesus Christ, the
same, yesterday, And today and forever. That's our subject this
morning. That is always our subject. What
do y'all preach down there? One thing, Jesus Christ, the
same. Yesterday, today, forever. Now all we know as human beings
is change. That's all we know. That's all
we've ever experienced is change. We just saying change and decay
in all around. I see. That's all that's taking
place. Our lives are constantly changing
constantly. We are constantly changing physically,
mentally, emotionally. We're constantly changing from
the moment that we are conceived in the womb. There hasn't been
one day gone by right up to this point right now. Not one day
has gone by that we have not experienced change. That's all
we know. But God does not change. God does not change. He said,
I am that I am. I am that I am. He has always
been what He is. He has never improved. Boy, you could ponder that a
while, couldn't you? He has never improved. He has never diminished. Never. Not one moment in time. Our brother just read it for
us. He said, I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not concerned. I don't change. Now turn with
me to Hebrews chapter one. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 1 says,
God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by son. And you'll notice that the word
his is in italics. He has spoken to us by son. whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made
the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and the express
image of his person." Christ is the express image of God's
person. When a person sees God, he will
see Christ. When a person stands before God,
we say you're going to stand before God and I'm going to stand
before God. When a person stands before God,
he's going to stand before Christ. Look with me at Colossians chapter
2. Turn back just a few pages to
Colossians chapter 2. Colossians 2 verse 9 says, for
in him, and the last word of verse 8 is Christ, for in him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, all of the
fullness of God the Father, and all the fullness of God the Son,
and all the fullness of God the Spirit. is seen in the Lord Jesus
Christ. All the fullness is seen in Christ. So to say that God does not change
is to say Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. He does not change. Now one of
the greatest errors in the entire world of religion is Many people
believe and many preachers preach that God has changed. Many people say that, preach
that, believe that God has changed. They believe that He is different
now from the way that He declared Himself to be in His Word. And that error leads men and
women to not know the God that they're going to stand before.
And if a man or woman doesn't know the God he's going to stand
before, or she's going to stand before, that person will hear
God say, depart from me, I never knew you. Be cast out into outer
darkness, eternal damnation. John 17 says, this is life eternal
that they might know thee, truly know thee. I do not want to go stand before
God not knowing who He is. That's a question so many people
ask. Well, who is God? Who is God and what is God? I
do not want to go stand before God not knowing who He is. And I do not want you to go stand
before God. I mean this. I do not want you
to go stand before God not knowing who he is. So this morning I
want us to through the scripture. See Jesus Christ. And how he is the same. What he was yesterday. He is
today. And he'll be there forever. Let's start with His person.
And this is something that I just adore. I adore this. He is the same in His person. Turn with me to John chapter
1. John chapter 1 verse 14 says. And the word that's Christ. Was made flesh and dwelt among
us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten
of the father full of grace and truth. Can we at all fathom how
grateful we ought to be for the fact that God came down and made
himself flesh and dwelt among us? United himself to us in flesh. He dwelt among us in flesh for
thirty-three and a half years. until the moment that he allowed
them to lay hold of him and nail his hands and his feet to the
cross. Before they could do that, he
had to allow it. And he died on that cross. And
he laid in the grave for three days. And on the third day, he
arose. All right, now turn with me to
John 20. John 20 verse 19 says, then the
same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the
doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the
Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them,
peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed
unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad
when they saw the Lord. Now look at verse 24. But Thomas,
one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus
came. The other disciples therefore
said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them,
Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put
my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again, his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be
unto you. Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and
behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into
my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered
and said unto him, My Lord and my God. my Lord and my God. Now turn with me one more page
to Acts chapter 1. Acts chapter 1 verse 9 says, And when
he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up,
and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they
looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, Behold, two men
stood by them in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into
heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen him go
into heaven. This same Jesus. This is why we get into the scriptures
to see who he is. This same Jesus. This same Jesus that we've heard
about and read about and imagined in our mind and believed on in
our heart. This same Jesus is coming back. He is the exact same person. the exact same person. Not one
thing has changed about him since the moment he left. Not one thing. He is the same in who he is. Jesus Christ the same. Not only is he the same in his
person, he is the same in his office. What is his office? What is his
position? Who is he? Turn back just a couple
of pages to John 19. John 19 verse 19 says, And Pilate wrote a title and
put it on the cross, and the writing was, Jesus of Nazareth
the King of the Jews. This title then read many of
the Jews, for the place where Jesus was crucified was not to
the city, and it was written in Hebrew and Greek and Latin.
Then said the chief priest of the Jews to Pilate, write not
the King of the Jews, but that he said, I'm the King of the
Jews. Pilate answered, what I have
written, I have written. He is the same in his office. What position does he hold? He's
the king. He's the king. The king is coming
back. God the Father spoke out loud
and said, He is the prophet, hear him. He is the priest, and he ever
liveth to make intercession for his people. He's the king. Prophet,
priest, king. Behold your king. Behold your
king. I can't help but look forward
to that moment in time. Every time I think about it.
When he came the first time, the whole host of heaven showed
up to announce his coming. The whole host is coming with
him again. Behold your king. Behold your king. He's the same
in his office. Now we must know this. He is
the same in His truth. He's the same. Turn with me to
Deuteronomy 32. Deuteronomy 32 verse 39 says,
see now that I even I am he and there is no God with me. I kill
and I make a life. I wound and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven
and say, I live forever. If I wet my glittering sword
and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine
enemies and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine
arrows drunk with blood and my sword shall devour flesh and
that with the blood of the slain and of the captives from the
beginning of revenges upon the enemy. He is the same in his
holiness. His holiness means he must judge
rightly. He must. He must punish sin. He must deal with the wicked.
He must. I don't know why so many people
have themselves convinced that God is not going to deal with
their sin. I don't know why. Well, I actually do know why.
It's because lying preachers are standing up in pulpits saying,
you're not a sinner and God's not going to judge you for your
sin. God has changed. He's not the same in holiness. He's not like He said He was
in His Word. God has changed. That's why. Poor, poor, poor
men and women have themselves convinced. Oh, it's alright. It'll be fine. God has not changed
in His judgment for sin. And man has not changed in his
sin. Everything about man, everything
about the natural man changes but one thing. His sin. The sin of man has not changed
since the moment man fell into it. Jeremiah said, can the Ethiopian
change his skin or the leopard change his spots? Then may you also do good that
are accustomed to do evil. Man's sin has not changed. It has not changed. The wages
of sin has not changed. The wages of sin is death. That's
what the Lord said. It was the moment it entered
man. It still is to this very day. Sin will damn men and women
for all eternity. It's happening right now. It's
happening right now. Men and women are going to meet
God right now. Somebody just went to meet him
right now. And the sin that that person
committed on this earth, if that person is not found in Christ,
that sin will damn that soul for all eternity. That has not changed. The truth
about God has not changed. The truth about man has not changed. Thank God the truth about Christ
has not changed. It has not changed. His purpose
in redemption has not changed. Call his name Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. He said, for this cause came
I into the world. The scripture says he set his
face like a flint to the cross that had my name on it. He went
there for me. He went there for me. He went
there for you if he put us in him. If we belong to him. He came to seek and to save that
which was lost. This is a faithful saying. This
is the truth. It's worthy of all acceptation.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am
chief. I am chief. Thank God that hasn't
changed. That has not changed. Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, today, forever. Now let's not go meet God without
understanding this. Look with me at Luke chapter
5. Luke chapter 5. Verse 32, he
said. I came not to call the righteous. But sinners to repentance. That has not changed. that has
not changed. All are under sin. Every soul needs salvation. And earning it through good morality,
and good deeds, and devout religion, personal obedience to this law,
self-righteousness is not the way. This is not the way. There is
one way of salvation. Only one way. The way of earning
a salvation through my own works was not the way then. It's not
the way now. It'll never be the way. There
is one way. It has not changed. God told
Moses a lamb must be slain. John the Baptist pointed to the
Lord Jesus Christ and cried, Behold the Lamb. Revelation 13 says He's the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world before God ever created
the world. And Revelation 5 says for all eternity when the saints
look into the midst of the throne, they're going to see a Lamb as
it had been slain. His way of salvation has not
changed. There's one way. If a man or
a woman tries to enter into the presence of God any other way
than through the sacrifice of God's Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ,
he or she will never enter in. Never enter in. There's one way.
That one way has not changed. It will not ever change. Spurgeon
said this, I thought this was so true, so good and so true. He said, men are always trying
to come up with another way of salvation. It seems like every century they
devise a new way. He said, if that were the case,
there have been 19 centuries so far. He lived in the 1800s.
He said, there've been 19 centuries so far, which means there would
be 19 different songs sung in heaven. describing 19 different
ways the saints were redeemed, but he said that's not the case.
There is one new song, and that new song has not changed. Every
saint redeemed throughout all the ages will forever cry unto
him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. That's the way. That's the way. He loved us and washed us from
our sins. He loved us. His love hasn't
changed. It has not changed. He said,
I've loved you with an everlasting love. He said greater love had
no man than the love I had for my own when I laid down my life
for him. Romans 8 says nothing shall be
able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. That will never change. Never. The word of his promise will
never change. This is what he said. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That'll
never change. You cast your all on Christ. He said, whosoever will, it doesn't
matter who it is. I don't care how sinful you are. It doesn't matter who it is.
This man received sinners. He said, come unto me all ye
that labor and are heavy laden over sin. Over sin, I mean, oh,
my sin is killing me. What I've done is killing me.
He said, you come to me, I'll give you rest. I'll give you
rest. Listen, he hasn't changed. He has not changed. He's still
the same. Whatever he said back then, it
still applies right now, today. Do you remember the first time
he ever spoke peace to your heart? You remember when that guilt
was just tearing you all to pieces and you realized for the first
time what Christ did for sinners? And that He does not expect me
to fix this and make it right because He fixed it for me and
freely gave it to you? You remember that peace that
came into your heart? It hasn't changed. He's still
the same. His means and His message, they
haven't changed. The reason that we still gather
around the Gospel and gather around His Word is because it's
still His means of calling His sheep to Himself. It pleased
the Lord by the foolishness of preaching. Not just preaching
anything. Preaching the Word. It pleased the Lord by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Many people consider
this to be obsolete. They do. This is not up with
the times. This is not up with technology.
I still hand write my notes. Man, you're old fashioned. Well,
we believe that we can worship God in a more current way, a
more enjoyable way than that. We can worship God in a more
entertaining way than that. We can worship him through music
only concerts, and we can worship him through plays, and we can
worship him through games, activities. None of those things are true.
It's not true. Romans 10 says, Whosoever shall
call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call on him in whom they have not believed? How shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall he preach except
he be sent? There is one means. It hasn't
changed. There is one message. It hasn't changed. The message
of the Christ of the cross. In all of His victory, in all
of His glory. It hasn't changed. Now let me
close with this. This is a promise from the word.
This is an exhortation of hope. To every center who is looking
to Christ and truly casting his all on Christ. The glory of the
cross hasn't changed. Because of Christ's accomplishment
on the cross. putting away all the sin of all
of His people. He did not try to save anybody. He did not make salvation possible. He made it finished. And because He accomplished that
in putting all of the sin away of all of His people, because
of that victory, God the Father has highly exalted Him above
all things, given Him a name above every name. And the glory
of the cross is the Lord Jesus Christ said in John 6 every soul
that the Father has put into my hands to redeem and to secure
on that cross. I'm going to raise that soul
up. I'm going to take that soul and
I'm going to raise that soul up at the last day. I'm going to raise that soul
high and lift it up with me where I am. If you'll go with me, this is
last verse, go with me to Philippians 3. Philippians 3, look at verse
20. For our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is
able even to subdue all things unto Himself. In that last day,
the day that has no more nights, since day was created, every
day has had a night, day has a night, day has a night, all
of a sudden it's going to be the last day. What that means
is no more nights. And in that last day, In the
moment that He raises us up, as soon as that happens, He's
going to change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like
unto His glorious body, and that will be our final change. That's our last change. Everything
about man has changed. All man knows is change, change,
change, change, change. In that last day, there's going
to be one final change. As He is, so will we be. And we'll never change ever again.
Never again. With Him. In Him. We will be the same. Yesterday. Today. Forever. Right there with Him. Perfectly
holy with Him. That's glorious. That is just
glorious. Thank the Lord our God. Thank
God. All right, stand together with
me.