I gave you a hint as to what the title of my message would be in the songs that I chose. I've titled this message, The Same Old Story. The Same Old Story. Ecclesiastes chapter one, verse nine. While you're turning, let me say often when someone is asked how they're doing or what's going on in their life, I asked someone just that a week or so ago, and their answer to me is an old saying that we've all heard, and it was, same old, same old.

It means that there's nothing new. Nothing new going on, nothing new at work, nothing new at home, nothing new in their lives, just the usual routine. The saying carries somewhat a nonchalant acknowledgement. It's kind of like, well, I guess that's just how it is. It's usually expressed with a sense of boredom. Just same old, same old. In our text, the wise man Solomon said it a different way.

He wrote here in verse nine, there's no new thing under the sun. The whole verse reads, the thing that hath been is, it is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done, and there's no new thing under the sun. That which has been is that which will be. In other words, what has existed before will continue to exist.

Human nature doesn't fundamentally change. The cycles of life, the cycles, whether politics, ambition, war, love, pride, greed, repeat day in and day out. Some would say same old, same old. And it's not fatalism, it's reality, it's realism. And every generation, no matter how far you go back, thinks it's living in unprecedented times. I hear that often said, you know, we're living in unprecedented times. Well, not really. I know there's new technology, I know there's new troubles, I know that there's new ideologies, new moral revolutions, so to speak. The packaging changes. The slogans are different. The platforms alter, but the human heart remains the same.

Sin, same. God is the same. The gospel is the same old story and change. Not to sound mundane or bored, but it's the same old, same old. Solomon continues and says, that which hath been done is that which shall be done. In other words, people just repeat behaviors. They always do. Empires rise and fall. They always will. Fads and habits recycle. Nothing really changes. Moral failures reappear in new packaging. We come up with new titles for the same old things. But what about motives and actions? Same old story. Same old, same old. Why? Because the natural heart is still the same as what Jeremiah said. And that is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. That's what your Bible says, Jeremiah 17, nine.

There's no new thing under the sun because those who live under the sun do not change. Under the sun just means that this is viewed From an earthly perspective, every new earthly thing is just a variation of something prior. New inventions, built on old principles. New philosophies, just remixes of earlier thoughts. We get a little smarter and we improve upon them, we think. New sin, oh, just ancient desires wearing modern clothes. Without history, without God, history just loops. It just recycles. Because men and women's hearts, men and women's nature, men and women's sin stays the same. Same old, same old. From the opening chapters of Genesis, we see it clearly. Cain killed Abel. Israel chased after idols. The Pharisees loved appearances more than truth.

And today, it's same old story. Different headlines, same rebellion. Now, our problem in this world is the same as it's always been. That's what Solomon's telling us here in our text. God is holy, God's always been holy. God is holy and God will always be holy. That doesn't change.

Humanity rebels. Adam and Eve rebelled in the Garp. Went on right on down through Cain and through all the descendants of Adam. And it's still going on today. Men still rebel. They say, I will not have this God to rule over me. Same old, same old. Sin still separates. It separated Adam and Eve from God, and it separates us from God. Judgment. Judgment is still merited and deserved. Why? Because there's nothing new under the sun.

In the Old Testament, we see it in the fall. In Genesis chapter three, we see it in the flood. Genesis chapter six and seven. In Israel's constant rebellion, we see it all through the Old Testament. And we see the prophets of God calling for repentance.

We went through the book of Judges here a while back, and it was the same old story, wasn't it? Every man did what was right in his own eyes. That's a problem. They would... begin to worship the idols of their enemies, and God would, then God would send them trouble, and they would, God would raise up a judge, and the judge would deliver them, and then it was right back to the same old same old.

In the New Testament, we see it, we see the same diagnosis. All have sinned, Romans 13. We all have need for repentance. We have the warning of judgment. The problem never changes. And I don't say the same old same old in a way that makes light of it. But it is the same old story.

I want this to be informative. I want this to be instructive. I mean for this to be encouraging. And you may be thinking we need to do a better job. I'll tell you. Secondly, the truth is still the truth. It's the same old grace. And that's a good thing. God's grace doesn't change because God doesn't change. If sin is the same old story, then so is mercy.

When Adam and Eve failed, God pursued. When Israel wondered, God restored. When Peter denied the Lord, Christ recovered him. Go tell my disciples, after he rose, go tell my disciples and Peter. Be sure to tell Peter too. I'm glad he said that. Because today he says, go tell my disciples and David and whatever your name is.

The cross of Christ was not a backup plan. We talked about that in the first hour. God doesn't have backup plans. He's Jehovah. He's the self-existent one. It was God's purpose from the foundation of time. Grace is not a trend, friends. It's eternal. Today, religion has kind of made it a trend. You know, grace this and grace that and bless this and bless that and have a blessed day. Ever-blessed life, and you know, it wears thin. Christ crucified is not a new innovation. Christ crucified is the only way that a sinner can be saved. No other way.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, Hebrews 13a. The same Savior who forgave tax collectors, the same Savior who healed lepers, the same Savior who restored Peter, and the same Savior who restores you and I is still the same. It's the same Savior who forgives. It's the same Savior who cleanses. It's the same Savior who restores sinners today.

Nothing has changed. And I say it with a smile on my face. Same old, same old. It seems to me that modern day religion is always looking for some new innovative way for men and women to be saved. But there's no new thing under the sun. It's sovereign, eternal grace. It's mercy that endures forever. And that brings me to the third thing.

And that is the lie that we hear today is the same old lie. Same old lie. Whether it was preached in Martin Luther's day, in the day of Peter and Paul are in the day of Martin Luther, are in our day. It's the same old lie. There's always been another voice. It's always voiced the same old thing. You don't need God. Has God truly said, shall you surely die if you partake? Well, you could be your own God. You can make your own decisions. You yourself can determine what is right and what is wrong. You can save yourself. You deserve more.

And this voice and its lie wears many costumes. It's looked like idols in the past. It looked like golden calves. It's reached high heights like Babel's tower. And in the Lord's day, it was disguised in false religion. Still is today, same old, same old. Nothing more than self-worship with men and women declaring what they have done for a needy and helpless God. Now, let's just be honest about it. That's exactly what men and women preach today. Won't you give Jesus your heart? He don't need you to give him your heart. If you don't give you a new one, you're doomed. Let go and let God. You can't let God do anything.

It's nothing but a continued disguise. It's the same old lie. Paul warned Timothy that these self-worshippers would gather together for themselves teachers to suit their own passions. That's what we have today. That's why there's churches on every corner. And that wasn't a prediction. That was a description. It's the same old, same old. It's the same old lie.

And yet, here stands the true church. Few here and few there. Few and far between. And people say, well, you can't pay any attention to that gospel because there's so few of them. It's just the opposite of what the Scriptures teach. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Many find it. But narrow is the way to life. How many find it? Few. Just few. Here stands the church. Still the same today. And then fourthly, we have the same old gospel. And yet while there's nothing new under the sun, friends, God Almighty works above the sun.

The Lord Jesus came into the world to save sinners. This wasn't a repeated human event. He came once. He's coming again, but it's not to save, it's to take His people home to be with Him. True newness comes from divine intervention. It can come from no one else. Christ lived the life that we failed to live. Christ died the death that you and I deserved. He was buried and us with him. And Christ rose in victory, and so did we with Him, by our union with Him.

And the power of God for salvation has never depended on mankind, and it never will. It's the same old story, yet new and fresh to the child of God every single day. We're called to preach the same old gospel, for there's not another, new or old. There's not another. Only the message of Christ crucified and salvations of the Lord. That's the message. We don't preach a new gospel.

We preach the old one faithfully. The world may demand innovation. But heaven demands faithfulness, so it's the same old same old. Across the country today, Seminaries are teaching how to rebrand the Gospel to make it more appealing to the masses. The Gospel doesn't need rebranding. It just needs declaring. Truthfully declaring. God commands the Gospel's proclamation.

And because of that, the believer has the same old hope. I have the same hope that Paul did. I have the same hope that Charles Spurgeon had. I have the same hope that Henry Mahan had. I have the same hope that Brother Maurice had. I have the same hope that you have. And I can name several that you would know that have the same hope. Same old hope, same old hope.

One day, for the child of God, this gospel story will reach its appointed climax, not because we as humanity have evolved, not because worldly society has perfected itself, but because Christ is going to return. And I absolutely love the words of the beloved John found in 1 John 3, verse two, that says, every man and woman to whom God has showed their sin will rejoice in this blessed truth. Listen to the words. Let me read them to you.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, What's going to happen? We shall be like Him. We shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is. Don't you just love that? Believers are God's children through faith in Christ. They're already adopted into God's Kingdom. Salvation's not a future hope. It's a present reality. I'm saved. by God's mercy and grace. It doesn't have anything to do with me. It has everything to do with the one that loved me and died for me, that gave his life, shed his blood in my room instead, the one that kept God's law perfectly, the one that satisfied God's justice completely and wholly.

The believer's transformation is promised. Every child of God is gonna be formed to Christ's image. Though sin and imperfection in God's eyes are gone, our ultimate destiny is to be without sin, which fully reflects God's character. We have hope in the unseen. We don't fully see what we will become, but we can rest in what God promised. What has God promised that we would become?

Just, we'd be just like Him, just like Christ. The promises are, as He is, as He is, so shall we be. As He is, we shall be like Him. Isn't that great encouragement? How is He? He's holy, He's perfect, He's God. And we shall be with Him and be like Him. We'll see Him and be just like Him. Our hope is the same as it's always been. We are God's children now, but one day we're going to fully reflect His glory. How's that? Sin be gone. No sin. No sin. Seeing ourselves as we are now, still plagued and troubled by The nature of sin, which so easily besets us, this should bring us the same hope every believer that has left us now has.

You know, we've talked about it a lot lately, some of us, in lieu of Miss Judy's condition. What's it going to be like? Well, we're just not told much about it. But I know one thing. We're going to be face-to-face with Christ and we're not going to have any sin. And the Lord said there's not going to be any more tears, not going to be any more sorrow, not going to be any more pain, and not going to be any more death. No more death. To see Christ face-to-face and to know that because of Him that we're perfect just like Him.

That's nothing new. It's the same old story. Isn't that what we sing? Tell me the story of Jesus. Tell me the old, old story. I love to tell the story. In the Old Testament, Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him for righteousness, Genesis 15, 6. The sacrifices of the Old Testament never saved. All it did was point to Christ. and him crucified. Christ being crucified was Christ being sacrificed. Did you know that? Sure you did.

The prophets called people to trust God, not just to perform rituals. Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. You're saved by grace through faith that's not of yourselves. You know, if Paul had just, wrote, you're saved by grace through faith.

That'd be enough right there. But he has to elaborate because of how we are. Saved by grace through faith. And that's not of yourselves. Because you're going to think it is. It's not by works. Why did he say that? Because we thinks it is. It's a gift of God. What do you do with a gift? You receive it. You didn't earn it. You didn't merit it. You didn't work for it. It was given to you.

In the New Testament, we see the law cannot justify. Rituals can't save. It involves a covenant relationship. God doesn't just save individuals, friends, though He does. He forms a covenant people. His people are called His church. They're called His bride. They're His beloved. I am my beloved's and my beloved's mine.

Instead of needing constant reminders from external laws, God's people instinctively desire to do what pleases God, who shapes their conscience and makes them to desire to obey Him. I don't need a law to show me that I need to obey God. I know I should obey God. God's written that law on my heart. And because of His love for me, I want to be pleasing to Him. I want to do what's right. I want to obey. God's people are motivated from love, not fear. Obedience comes from a heart renewed by the Spirit, not from any legal obligation.

The law written on the heart doesn't make someone flawless, but it certainly makes them want to be. knowing that our union with Christ is the only way. God desires an intimate, personal relationship, not just external conformity. God desires our heart. God looks on the heart and God is concerned about what's on our heart. God works inwardly, it's no longer just words, it's implanted in the believer's desires.

Now I'm far, let me say, and those of you that know me well, you can ask my wife, you can ask my daughter, even my grandchildren, I'm far from being what I should be, but I sure desire to be what I should be. I don't have much hope that I'll ever be better in this flesh, but I want to be better. That's not wrong to say, is it? I want to be better. I know that being better won't save me. But out of love for the one that saved me, I want to be better.

Well, we've seen the human, the limitations of human effort. no matter how hard we work, no matter how clever we think we are, and we think we're pretty clever, no matter how determined we seem to be, the cycles of life continue because sin continues.

We're creatures of habit because we're creatures of sin. Sin keeps us all on level playing ground. Sin traps us under this sun, this evil world, and this is a sinful world in which we presently live And what do I mean by sinful? Full of sin. That's what sinful is, full of sin. And that's what we are. So lastly, is there anything new above the sun? It's not a trick question. When God breaks into our world, When God divinely intervenes into the believer's life, He introduces to sinful men and women the only way that they can ever be made what they must be made in order to be reconciled to God.

Perfect, holy, unblameable, unreprovable, completely righteous. Christ's work on the cross. is how that's accomplished, and it's unprecedented. Christ's resurrection is unequal. The gift of the Holy Spirit is unmatched. In Christ, old habits and cycles are broken. They're no longer the same old, same old. The world brings repetition. God brings renewal. The world brings habit. God brings transformation. God in Christ does a new thing. That's what He said. I the Lord do a new thing. God commands sinners to live in a new creation. I can remember when God gave me a whiff of my own true nature. I can. And He keeps giving me a whiff of it. It's painful. It was painful then. It's painful now. Maybe even more so now.

So let me finish by having you turn to 2 Corinthians 5. Look at verse 17. You know the verse before I get there. And let me say while you're turning, the longer I live, the more that I see that nothing within me has changed much. My life began in sin, and it hasn't changed much. if any.

And I certainly can identify with the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 7 when he wrote, For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. I will to do good, I want to do good, but within myself I can't find But I need to do that. He said, for the good that I would, I do not, but for the evil which I would not, that I do.

Does that sound like anybody you know? Just four short sentences later, he wrote, O wretched man that I am. He's talking about the same old, same old self. He said, oh, wretched man that I am. And he says it with an exclamation mark. He didn't say, oh, wretched man that I was, did he? He said, oh, wretched man that I am. In our own eyes, we're the same old, same old. But look here at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17. Look at what Paul writes.

He's talking about a man or a woman that now finds themselves in Christ. He's talking about a man or woman that's been born again. Born of God, born of the Spirit, born from above. Made a new creature, a new creation. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, every woman too, he or she is a new creature. It just keeps getting better. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.

It's not talking about reformation. It's not talking about improving. It's not talking about progressive sanctification. It's talking about a new creation. What kind of creation? A new one. No. God saves a sinner. When God saves a sinner, the old heart is not refurbished. God gives a new heart. God doesn't remodel the house. He tears it down and builds a new one.

Paul says, if any man, no category is excluded. Well, I thought you had believed God only saved the eleven. Whosoever will, let him drink of the water of life freely. Whosoever will and whosoever does is the elect of God. That's not hard, is it? If any man, if any man be in Christ, union with him is everything. Not just if any man wills, if any man be in Christ. The old has passed away and Christ is no longer the same old, same old. guilt, dominion of sin, that fallen nature, all passed away. It really is. How do I know? Because God said it was. That's enough for me. That's enough for me. Behold, all things have become what? New! New desires, new direction, a new relationship, new fellowship with God.

No longer separated. We've been reconciled. We've been brought together by the blood of his beloved son. We're not modified. We're regenerated. That means bring to life. Look down at verse 18. And all things are of God. who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world, his people in the world unto himself, not imputing, not charging their trespasses, their sin unto them. This new life, this new creation, this new birth is of God. That brings substance to it. Reconciliation means that hostility that we once had toward God is gone. The carnal mind is enmity against God. That word means hostile to God. It's been removed. We were estranged. We were alienated. We were under wrath.

It was God that took the initiative. We didn't climb to God. That's what they tried to do at the Tower of Battles. And what did God do? He confused their language. They couldn't communicate. And that's what we've got today. People aren't communicating with God because they don't know God. They're alienated from God. We declined God. He came to us.

How did he do it? Through Christ. Not through our works, not by our reform, not through our sincerity. You know that you can be sincere. And be sincerely wrong. I am quite often. But through the Lord Jesus Christ, not imputing, not counting our trespasses against us. I can't tell you how much comfort I find in that. God doesn't ignore sin, but he. He does not pretend it's small.

He deals with it. Justly by satisfying his standards of holiness in his son. His wrath, his condemnation, The punishment for sin fell on Christ and it was exhausted. And it was extinguished. God's no longer angry. He's appeased. He's satisfied. And the last part of verse 19 says, "...and have committed unto us the word of reconciliation." What does that mean?

Tell others what new thing God's done for you. Should I go stand on the corner Preach what the Lord leads you to. But that means just that God gives you opportunity. Just tell somebody what God's done for you. God doesn't only reconcile us, friends. He entrusts us with His message. Verse 20, Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. Isn't that something? The wretches we are, we are now in Christ His ambassador. That sounds important, doesn't it? It is. It is. As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled to God.

We don't represent ourselves. We don't carry our own message. We deliver the King's term of peace. God makes His appeal through us. And we implore, we beseech others on Christ's behalf. to be reconciled to God. All we can do is tell Him. Only God can make it effectual to Him. But we're commanded to tell Him. He's given to us all the ministry of reconciliation. And it isn't a mild suggestion. It's an earnest pleading. You're either reconciled or you're judged. That's how serious it is.

Look at verse 21, for He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. That verse stands as the center of everything new. God made Him, the Father acts, to be sin, not sinful, but treated as sin. Christ bore the penalty of sin, who knew no sin, The Lord Jesus is the sinless Christ. Some people say, well, are you saying Jesus was a sinner? It says He knew no sin. He was made sin. Our sin was put on Him. He paid the penalty of our sin, not His own. He knew no sin. He had no sin. He did no sin. He thought no sin. He spoke no sin. He's the sinless Savior.

And for us, what is that? Substitution. so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him, the Lord Jesus. You see, we're not just merely forgiven. We're declared by God to be righteous. As righteous as Christ Himself is. Our sin was placed on Christ. His righteousness was credited to us. Where do I sign up for that? Right here. Right here. Right here. So what's the conclusion? It's the call. What is the call? Be reconciled to God.