One thing that never changes,
as we grow in grace and in knowledge, as we study the scriptures and
we become skillful in the word of righteousness, more skillful,
as we bear fruit from the life of Christ within us by his spirit
through his word, As we study, as 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse
15 says, to show ourselves workmen that needeth not to be ashamed,
we look at scriptures and you know, I look at certain scriptures
today as I study them and I may have a different view on those
scriptures than I had 10, 15, 20 years ago. And I hope that what that is,
is that the Lord, by his spirit, is giving us more light on his
word. But as we go through those changes,
and as we grow in grace and knowledge, and even as we change our view
on particular passages of scripture, or even particular points of
doctrine or theology, there's one thing that never changes,
it has never changed, It's not changed for you, it's not changed
for me, the 30 years that I've been preaching, and that's the
gospel of God's grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. That
doesn't change. Now, we build upon the foundation,
but the foundation doesn't change, and that's so. And that's what
I want to talk to you about. Let me give you several things
before I get to Titus here. First of all, you know, the gospel
is the gospel of God. Paul wrote that in Romans chapter
one. And our God never changes. Now we can't really grasp that
and understand it, but it's an issue of comfort and grace for
God's people. The book of Malachi chapter three
and verse six, he says, for I am the Lord, I change not, therefore
you sons of Jacob, that sinner saved by the grace of God, are
not consumed. And the scripture says it's of
the Lord's mercies that we're not consumed in Lamentations
chapter 3. So our God never changes. Every
good gift and every perfect gift is from above, cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness nor
neither shadow of turning. James chapter 1 and verse 17. So our God never changes. He's
immutable. That's a concept that's far beyond
our grasp. Secondly, our Savior never changes
in a sense. And you think about that, you
know, that's kind of hard for us to see because we read of
Him actually changing in certain aspects. For example, He was
made flesh and dwelt among us, the scripture says. He started
out His life on this earth as an infant. and he grew in wisdom
and stature. But you know that's only to be
attributed to his humanity. As to his deity he never changes.
And here's another important thing we need to understand.
As our Redeemer he never changes. That's what Hebrews chapter 13
and verse 8 means when it talks about Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He is our Redeemer. In Revelation
chapter 1 and verse 8, he calls himself the Alpha and the Omega,
the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord, which is and
which was and which is to come, the Almighty. That's the I Am
of Scripture, the never-changing God. And then thirdly, our salvation
never changes. As to its certainty, it never
changes. Now we grow in grace and in knowledge.
That's salvation that never changes. As to its certainty, it never
changes. Because you see, our surety is
Christ. And that'll never change. As
to its quality, it never changes because it's based upon His blood
and righteousness alone and there's nothing more valuable. We may
grow in our value of it. We do. But it's still the same. And then as to its time, it's
eternal. Psalm 103 verse 17 says this,
but the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting
upon them that fear him, that is, trust him and worship him,
and his righteousness unto children's children. We stand before God
justified based upon a righteousness that is eternal and never changing
and cannot diminish. It's the righteousness of God
in Christ. You see, even Adam's righteousness in the garden was
not eternal, it was not unchangeable. If it were unchangeable, he wouldn't
have fallen. That's a creature righteousness. But we have the
righteousness of God, and it never changes. An everlasting
righteousness of infinite value. This is eternal life, and it
can never be taken away. That's what the record says.
And all of this is revealed and communicated to us through the
gospel that never changes. Now look at Titus chapter 1,
verse 1. Paul writes here, he says, Paul,
a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to
the faith of God's elect, that's the gift of faith given to God's
elect, who are God's elect, those who have faith, those who trust
Christ. And the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness. Godliness begins with a right
standing before God in Christ and issues forth in a sinner
who comes to Christ for all the salvation. And look at verse
two, in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began. Now that promise that was before
the world began, is the promise of the gospel. And when he says
before the world began, he means it's eternal. It's as eternal
as God is. It's as eternal as the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And in essence, what we know
about that is that it has really no beginning and no ending. And
I'm going to tell you something, you know, you can't really wrap
your mind around that. I can't. You can't. None of us
can. I mean, this is high above us, you see, but we know it's
so. And he says in verse 3, but hath in due times manifested
his word through preaching. Manifested means made it known.
It actually took place in time. It was before the world began.
It was eternal, that message. that reveals the purpose and
grace of God, we'll see in 2 Timothy, but it was manifested, made known,
that which is eternal was not limited to time, but it was made
known in time through the preaching of his word, the preaching of
Christ, the preaching of the gospel, which is committed unto
me according to the commandment of God, our savior. That's the
gospel that never changes. That's the good news that never
changes. You pick up your newspaper this morning, you don't have
the same news that you had yesterday. Different news. Some of it good,
most of it bad, maybe a little bit of it good. But it's going
to change tomorrow. But this is the good news that
never changes. Now with that in mind, turn over
to 2 Timothy chapter 1. I've done several messages out
of this passage here, but I want to just kind of give you a flow
of it here, beginning at verse 8. Let me show you what's happening. Paul begins, he's writing to
Timothy, and Paul at this time is in prison at Rome. And the
reason he's in prison at Rome is for preaching this gospel
that never changes. That's why he's in prison. And
when he tells Timothy not to be ashamed, he says in verse
8, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord,
nor of me his prisoner. He's telling Timothy to stand
bold for the gospel no matter what comes against you. Paul
was in prison. When he says, be not ashamed,
he's not saying, Timothy, don't be embarrassed. Certainly we
shouldn't be embarrassed by the gospel, we believe. But he's
saying, Timothy, don't shirk, don't give up in the face of
opposition and persecution. And don't be ashamed of me because
I'm in prison. And he says, notice he says,
the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner, whose prisoner
Paul's recognizing that the reason he was in prison ultimately was
the will of God, the sovereign will of God. It's amazing, isn't
it? Now men put him there and they
meant evil by it, but it was the sovereign purpose of God.
If you read the book of Philippians chapter one, he tells you how
that all works out because he says there that my bonds, my
bondage in prison has worked out to the furtherance of the
gospel. That's how God used it. In other words, putting Paul
in prison didn't bind up this gospel that never changes. Man
can't do that. So he says, don't be ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner, but
be thou partaker. That's a fellowship word. That's a communal word there.
That means you be in partnership with me and fellowship with me
in the afflictions of the gospel, this gospel that never changes
according to the power of God. And that's whatever God puts
you through. However God blesses it, or however
God uses it to be the saver of life unto life, or the saver
of death unto death. So beginning at verse 9, he gives
the whole realm of this gospel that never changes. In verse
9 he gives us the eternal purpose and reality of the gospel that
never changes. The eternal purpose and reality
of it. Somebody said, how old is this
gospel? Well, they said the prophets
preached it. Paul wrote that in Romans chapter 1 and verse
2. He said this gospel of God, which was preached afore or before
by the prophets. Our Lord taught his disciples
in Luke chapter 24 how to preach the law of Moses and the prophets
and the Psalms, the things concerning himself. In other words, the
Old Testament is a book about Christ. It's a revelation of
Christ. It's a revelation of Christ in
promise, in prophecy, and in time. He said in John chapter
5 and verse 39, he said, you do search the scriptures, for
in them you think you have eternal life. They are they which testify
of me. And he went on and told him,
he said, the very one in whom you trust, Moses, will condemn
you, will judge you. He said, if you'd believe Moses,
you would have believed me, for Moses wrote of me. And he goes
even back further than Moses in John chapter 8. He says, Abraham
rejoiced to see my day. And he saw it and he was glad.
Abraham looked forward to the promise. of the coming Messiah. Abraham believed the same gospel
we believe, the gospel of God's grace in and by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Abraham was justified based upon
the same ground that you and I were justified on, and that's
the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ, His righteousness
alone. Moses the same way. And you go
all the way back to Abel. Abel in bringing the blood of
a lamb was testifying in picture and in type of his faith in the
promised Messiah by whom Abel would be forgiven and justified
in the sight of God. And so he testified of that.
That he himself, and God said he himself was righteous and
his works were righteous because of what Christ would come in
time and do. Now that's the same gospel. But
you see it goes back even further than that. Listen to verse 9. Here's the eternal purpose and
reality of the gospel that never changes. He says, He says, this
is the power of God, this testimony, this gospel, according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and hath called us with an
holy calling, that's the calling of the gospel and the power of
the spirit in the new birth, regeneration and conversion.
And listen to what he says. Not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus, when? Before the world began. Same
thing Titus said over here when he was talking about this message
of God's grace, this message he said that God in hope of eternal
life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began.
And it wasn't just an afterthought. It was God's eternal purpose.
What was and is and forever will be God's purpose in this gospel
that never changes. It's His purpose to glorify Himself
in the salvation of sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's
by grace. It has never been, is never and
never will be by works of men. He said not according to our
works. Somebody said, well God taught
that lesson first with Cain and Abel. Oh no, he taught it first
with Adam and Eve. When Adam fell, and as a representative
of the whole human race, brought the whole human race into sin
and death, what was the first thing Adam and Eve did in their
shame? To hide themselves from their
shame and from the wrath, they sewed their fig leaf aprons together. And when God revealed to them
their standing and their state before him in their shame, in
their sin, the first thing he did in pronouncing a curse upon
the serpent, Satan, who appeared in the form of a serpent, is
he issued forth the promise of that gospel that never changes
in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15. In the promise and the coming. and the purpose of saving sinners
through the woman's seed. The woman's seed. And that was
the purpose and the promise of the Messiah, the Anointed One,
the Lord Jesus Christ to come. And then right after that, in
Genesis chapter 3 and verse 21, God established the sacrificial
way of worship because He slew animals and made coats of skin
took off those fig leaf aprons which symbolized man's efforts
to hide his own nakedness. You see, man's works, not according
to works. And he slew an animal because
without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin,
no forgiveness of sin, and he made them coats of skin which
were emblematic of the justice of God in his purpose and grace
to save sinners through Christ. And those coats of skin were
symbolic of the righteousness of Christ imputed. charged and
accounted to his people. Now that was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Christ as the representative
and surety of his people and it never changed. The mind of
God never changed, the purpose of God never changed, the grace
of God never changed. It's always been the same. And
that's the eternal purpose and reality. Salvation has never
been by the works of sinners. For by grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourself is the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And so there's the eternal purpose.
Now, given us in Christ Jesus. How could it be given us in Christ
Jesus? Well, Christ was set up from
everlasting and eternally to be the surety of his people.
He didn't start becoming the surety of his people when he
was born in this world. He didn't start becoming the
surety of his people at the cross. At the cross, what he did was
fulfill the duties of his eternal suretyship, which must have been
fulfilled because God must be just when he justifies. Sin had
to be put away, righteousness had to be established, But it
was so for Abraham and Abel, just as it will be for the last
one of God's elect who is brought into the kingdom. Christ, the
surety. Now look at verse 10. Now here's
the ground of the salvation revealed in that gospel that never changes. He says in verse 10, he says,
but is now made manifest, made known, actually established in
time by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath
abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel." Christ abolished death. He had to do that. The fact that this was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began does not deny the
fact that he had to appear to put away sin and to abolish death. It was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. Somebody says, well, why did
he have to come? Because the surety had to pay the debt. Righteousness had to be established.
Now look over at Hebrews chapter two. Hebrews chapter two and look
at verse 14. Christ was the surety of his
people before the world began. And being that surety, he was
obligated and he agreed to pay the debt, the price, redemption. He had to redeem us from our
sins. Verse 14, Hebrews 2, for as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood. Now, who are the children? That's
the children of God that were given to Christ in the everlasting
covenant of grace. who had that salvation that was
given them in Christ Jesus before the world began. And he said
he also himself likewise took part of the same, that is flesh
and blood. Now he without sin. And he says
that through death, his own death, as the surety of his people,
he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the
devil." Now when he says the devil has the power of death
there, he doesn't mean that the devil has power to kill you or
make you alive. Satan doesn't have that power.
But the power that the devil has over death is the power to
accuse. You see, if I'm accused of committing
a capital crime that's worthy of the death penalty, whoever
accuses me of that crime, if they can prove that I did it
and I'm really guilty of the crime, they have that power of
death in that sense. But now if they accuse me and
the crime doesn't stick, I didn't commit the crime or the crime
has been removed in some way, then they don't have that power
over me again. Hold your finger there at Hebrews 2 and turn to
Revelation chapter 12. Let me show you what I mean here. Now look at this. He's talking
about the great dragon here in verse 9. That's Satan. He identifies
him right here in this verse. Revelation 12 verse 9. This will
help get it straight in your mind what it means when he says
he that had the power of death, Satan. It says in verse 9, And
the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. He was cast
out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. So there's
no doubt he's talking about Satan here, the devil. And he says
in verse 10, and I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is
come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and the
power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren is cast
down, which accused them before our God day and night. That's
Satan, he accuses the brethren. Now, will his accusation stick? That's the question. Well, look
at verse 11. It says, and they overcame him,
they overcame the accuser of the brethren, by what? By the
blood of the Lamb. Now you know what the blood of
the Lamb means? That means Satan's accusations won't stick. For
who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God
that justifies. Who can condemn us? It's Christ
that died. His blood, yea, rather, is risen
again and seated at the right hand of the Father, ever living
to make intercession for us. When we sin, we have an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, so that when Satan
accuses the brethren, it won't stick. Now if those accusations
stick, what's the penalty? Death. The wages of sin is death.
But his accusations won't stick. Now you want to know why? Because
Christ took our sin. He was made sin. That had to
happen in time, you see. Why? Because of the eternal purpose
and grace of God and that salvation which was given us in Christ
Jesus before the world began. Christ had to... See, when Satan
accused Christ on the cross, the accusations stuck. That's
why he had to die. And so it says, they overcame
him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony.
What is the word of our testimony? Christ and him crucified and
risen again. And they loved not their lives
unto death. Now go back to Hebrews 2. So Christ He had to actually,
the eternal purpose and grace of God, which was given us in
Christ Jesus before the world began, does not deny or denounce
or diminish the necessity of Him coming into this earth and
partaking of flesh and blood. And He says here in verse 15
of Hebrews 2, And deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage, For verily he took not
on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of
Abraham." And who are the children of Abraham? That's believers.
That's the elect of God. Well, here's the ground devil.
Go back to 2 Timothy 1. Christ went to the cross to fulfill
in time the eternal purpose and grace of God that was given us
in Him before the world began. That's the gospel, and it's never
changed. It never will. No matter what
we learn, if we go to a passage of scripture in the Old Testament
and God gives us some light on that, I'm gonna guarantee you,
if it's true light from God, it won't change the gospel that
we believe today. It won't change the gospel that
was set up before everlasting. It won't challenge it. It won't
deny it. It'll simply build on it and
cause us to value it and appreciate it and love it more. That's what
it'll do. Look at verse 12 or verse 11
now, 2 Timothy chapter 1. Here's the revelation of it.
Here's the revelation of the gospel that never changed. He says, whereunto, now he'd
already said this in verse 10, he said, it hath brought life
and immortality to light through the gospel. And he says, whereunto
I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the
Gentiles. Now what's Paul preaching and
teaching? The gospel. That never changes. And there's
the revelation of it. How is it revealed? It's revealed
through the preaching of the gospel in the power of the Holy
Spirit. Paul wrote it in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. The preaching of the cross is the preaching of this
gospel that never changes. 1 Corinthians 1.18. The preacher, it's foolishness
to them that believe not who are perishing, but it's the power
of God under them that believe are being saved. It's both the
wisdom of God and the power of God. And it's the preaching of
the cross which is the eternal purpose and grace of God that
was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. What
is the preaching of the cross? It's the finished work of Christ
who came and abolished death, shed his blood as the full payment
of all our sins, and established that righteousness by which God
justifies the ungodly all along. And all of that in him. That's
the revelation of it. And Paul said, I'm a preacher
of it. I'm a teacher of it, and I teach the Gentiles. And then
look at verse 12, now here's the fruit of it. Here's the fruit
of that gospel that never changes. He says, for which cause I also
suffer these things, nevertheless I'm not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed, and am persuaded that he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. The fruit of it, is
a sinner coming to faith in Christ. Christ said in John chapter 6
and verse 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. He said in John chapter 12, he
said, I, if I be lifted up, will draw all unto me. That's the
fruit of this gospel that never changes. It's the fruit of the
death of Christ, the life of his people. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed. Faith is the gift of God through
Christ. It's the operation of the Holy
Spirit within us based upon the work of Christ for us. His righteousness
charged, imputed, accounted to us always results in God's time,
faith in Christ. Life given to the believer. You
must be born again. And that's what Paul's saying,
I know whom I have believed. And how do you know it's true
faith? Well, look what he says. He says, I know whom I have believed.
I believe in a person who did a work that was from eternity
set up. And he did it in time. I know
whom I have believed and I'm persuaded. Who persuaded him?
God did through the power of the Spirit and the preaching
of the gospel. and he's able to keep that which I've committed.
What have I committed unto Christ? I've committed all my salvation
unto him. I've committed my soul, the well-being
of my soul unto him. I'm resting in him for all of
salvation. And then there in verse three
you have what I call the harvest of salvation. And what is that
harvest? Well, do you know there he said
in verse 12, he said, I know whom I have believed, And I'm
persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed. Not
only does he save me by his grace, but he keeps me by his grace,
but he says unto him against that day. Now what is that day? I believe it's talking about
the day of his second coming. I believe it's talking about
the day of our final glory in him. That's the harvest of salvation. When Christ comes and gathers
his people unto themselves, unto himself. And when he does that,
it's all going to be according to the gospel that never changes. I want you to turn, we'll conclude
with this, turn to Revelation chapter 5. I want to show you
this. This is a vision that Christ
gave to the Apostle John of the saints in heaven. And we can
equate that with final glory. The saints glorified in heaven
with Christ. That hadn't happened yet. Now,
this is a promise of a future event. It hadn't happened yet
because we'll all be glorified together. Paul spoke of that
in 1 Corinthians 15, when this corruptible must put on incorruption
and we'll receive that new body. And I don't know what that new
body is going to be like. It's a spiritual body. I know there'll
be no pain, no suffering, no tears. All of that is Scripture
teaches us. But here's the point I want you
to see. Look at what happens here according
to this gospel that never changes to these saints in glory. It
says in verse 1 of Revelation 5, it says, and I saw in the
right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within
and on the backside sealed with seven seals. That's the book
of life. And he said, I saw a strong angel
proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book
and to loose the seals thereof? Well, he says, no man in heaven,
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
neither to look thereon. There was no man found anywhere
who was worthy to open the book of life. Now this opening of
the book of life means that somebody has the right and the authority
and the worthiness to do so. No man anywhere was found. And
John said in verse four, he said, and I wept much, because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
even look thereon. Not even to read it, not to look
on it. But he says in verse five, and one of the elders saith unto
me, weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe
of Judah. That's a quote Quotation from
the Old Testament, Genesis chapter 49, when Jacob was on his deathbed
and he was blessing all of his sons. And when he come to Judah,
he said, Judah, thou art a lion's whelp. You remember? I'm talking
about the promise in its infancy, just beginning to come forth
and all the revelation of Christ there. And he said, the scepter
shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes. Shiloh meaning
peace, Christ the prince of peace. The scepter meaning the scepter
of the king. God's saying here, I'm gonna keep Judah together
until Christ comes. That's what he meant by that.
Who's the line of the tribe of Judah? Well, he says the root
of David. Who's that? That's Christ. He
says, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven
seals thereof. How did he prevail to open the
book and loose the seven seals? By his death on the cross. It's the book of life. Where
does eternal spiritual life come from? through the death of the
Lamb of God, through the death of Christ. From his death comes
our life. How do you know that, sir? Because
he arose from the dead. He's the first fruits of his
people. And so he says in verse 6, And
I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four
beasts, and of the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had
been slain. You see there? What's he talking
about? He's talking about the gospel
that never changes, even in eternal, in final glory. Gospel's not
going to change. He says, having seven horns,
seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth unto
all them, He says, he came and he took the book out of the right
hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken
the book, the four beasts and the four and 20 elders fell down
before the lamp, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. And
verse nine says, they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God. Now it's a new song in their
mouth, but it's an old story. It's a gospel that never, that's
the same song that Abel sang. Same song that we sing. Worthy,
worthy is the lamb for thou was slain and has redeemed us to
God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation and has made us unto our God's king, God, kings and
priests and we shall reign on earth. And I beheld and I heard
the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beast
and the elders And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature
which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and
such as are in the sea And all that is in them, I heard I saying,
blessing and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth
upon the throne and unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the
four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders
fell down and worshipped him that liveth forever and ever."
It's the gospel that never changes.