Good morning. Turn with me if
you would to Psalm Chapter 4. Psalm Chapter 4. Our pastor is
recovering from the flu. So you get to hear me and Dan
this morning. And if you didn't get a chance
to hear Dan, be sure to pull that off a sermon audio and listen.
That was definitely a blessing. I said to Stacy, I'm glad that's
what our kids, when I say our kids, I include those of mine
that are biological kids and all our kids. I'm glad, I'm thankful
that's what our kids hear. Psalm chapter four. Hear me when I call, O God of
my righteousness. Thou hast enlarged me when I
was in distress. Have mercy upon me and hear my
prayer. O ye sons of men, How long will
you turn my glory into shame? How long will ye love vanity
and seek after leasing? But know that the Lord hath set
apart him that is godly for himself. The Lord will hear when I call
unto him. Stand in awe and sin not. Commune with your own heart
upon your bed and be still. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness
and put your trust in the Lord. There be many that say, who will
show us any good? Lord, lift thou up the light
of thy countenance upon us. Thou has put gladness in my heart.
That's what drew me to this reading this morning. I thought of us
worshiping together, and that's exactly what I thought. Thou
has put gladness in my heart. More than in the time that their
corn and their wine increased, I'll both lay me down in peace
and sleep. For thou, Lord, only makest me
dwell in safety. Amen. Let's stand together while
Sean leads us in our call to worship. Precious Savior, friend of sinners,
we as such to Thee draw near. Let Thy Spirit dwell within us
with that love that casts out fear. Matchless Savior, let us
know Thee As the Lord our righteousness Calls our hearts to cleave unto
Thee Come and with Thy presence bless Open now Thy precious treasure
Let Thy Word here freely flow, Give to us a gracious measure,
Tis Thyself we long to know. Come and claim us as thy portion. Let us all find rest in thee. Leave us not to empty notions. We would find our hope in thee. OK, if you would, turn in your
hymnals to song number 269, Under His Wings. Under His wings I am safely abiding,
though the night deepens and tempests are wild. Still I can trust Him, I know
He will keep me. He has redeemed me and I am His
child. Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever? Under His wings, my soul shall
abide. safely abide forever. Under his wings, what a refuge
in sorrow, how the heart yearningly turns to his rest. Often when earth has no balm
for my healing, there I find comfort, and there I am blessed. Under His wings, under His wings,
who from His love can sever? Under His wings my soul shall
abide, Safely abide forever. Under His wings, oh, what precious
enjoyment! There will I hide till life's
trials are o'er. Sheltered, protected, no evil
can harm me. Resting in Jesus, I'm safe evermore. Under His wings, under His wings,
Who from His love can sever? Under His wings, my soul shall
abide, safely abide forever. Brother John is asked to have
a scripture reading from 1 Kings chapter 8. 1 Kings chapter 8, I'm going to
read verses 54 through 58. And it was so that when Solomon
had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication
unto the Lord, he rose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling
on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. And he stood and
blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice saying,
Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people Israel,
according to all that he promised, there hath not failed one word
of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses
his servant. The Lord our God be with us as
he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us nor forsake
us, that he may incline our hearts unto him to walk in all his ways,
and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments,
which he commanded our fathers. May the Lord bless us. Word to
our hearts. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we come before you thankful and a needy people. Lord, we're thankful
that you've given us this local congregation to meet. and that
you've stood up a pastor to preach salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But Father, we need thee to bless it. Father, we pray that you
would not have us merely going through the motions, that this
isn't a social event, Lord, but that you would continue to bless
your word that you would call out your sheep from the world
into this local fold, that you would leave us not alone, Lord,
but send your spirit to preach the word, to take the word preached
here and anoint it to our hearts. We pray, Lord, for Jonathan as
he stands this morning. Pray that you would give him
recall of his notes. But Lord, let your gospel run
freely. Lord, take away the man and let
us hear a word from thee. Father, what we pray for ourselves
here, we pray wherever men today stand to proclaim salvation in
the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinners. Lord, cause us to know our sin
and to know our Savior. Cause us to run to him. Cause
us to love him. We pray, Lord, that you would
continue to bless this congregation, that you would have your word
go forth from this place for many years to come. That you
would raise up a new generation, that you would continue to bless
this city with the preaching of the gospel. And that you might
have much people in this city. Father, we ask all these things
and in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, for his sake. Amen. Good morning. Turn with me, if
you would, to the book of Joshua. Joshua chapter 21. I'd like to look this morning at the promise, the good promise
of God. And all of God's promises, plural,
to us and to his children, all of his promises are all wrapped
up in the promise, singular, the promise of God. And that
promise is, and our comfort is in, our hope is in, That promise
is that God is exactly who he says he is. God is exactly who
he says he is. He's unchanging. He's the same
tomorrow as he has been from eternity. God's unchanging. How many times, when you read
through the Psalms, how many times did David start the Psalm
just low? Have you cast me off? Lord, have
you changed? Because I would change. You watch
me every day, and I would change. The day would come very, very
quickly that I wouldn't love me anymore. Lord, have you changed? Have you cast me off? How often
does David start a psalm like that? And then he reminds himself,
or more accurately, the Lord brings to his mind, brings to
his heart, stirs up in him the Lord's sovereignty and the fact
that the Lord doesn't change. By the time you get to the end
of the psalm, David's on high ground again, right? As are we,
and that's my prayer for this morning as well, that we, that
the Lord brings, stirs up in our hearts again to remember
the Lord's good promise that never failed, never has, and
never will fail. Everything he does and everything
that he doesn't do is according to his promise, according to
his promise. So as I was reading through Joshua
and making notes, I looked up, what are the elements of a promise?
And there's three elements to a promise. There's the promise
itself, right? That's what will be done. And
that's also what will not be done. There's the promise itself. There's the promisor. That's
who's making the promises. Is that promisor able? Is that
promisor willing? And is the promise consistent
with who that promisor is? Is it consistent? Are they trustworthy? Do they have the right? Is it
consistent? Is it in their nature? Is it
in their character? So we have the promise itself, we have the
promiser, and we have the promisee, that is the one to whom the promise
is made. Who's the promisee? And as we look through today,
I hope that we answer those three. Starting in Joshua chapter 21. And before we read there, listen
to Joshua chapter one, just a few verses here in Joshua chapter
one. So the first three verses of the book say, now, after the
death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that
the Lord spake unto Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister,
saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise,
go over this Jordan, thou and all the people, unto the land
which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every
place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I
given unto you, as I said unto Moses, right, according to the
promise. And now we pick up here in Joshua 21, excuse me, 21,
starting in verse 43. And the Lord gave unto Israel
all the land, which he swore to give unto their fathers. He
fulfilled his promise, right? The Lord gave unto Israel all
the land, which he swore to give unto their fathers, and they
possessed it and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round
about according to all that he swear unto the fathers. and there
stood not a man of all their enemies before them. The Lord
delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not,
ought, of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the
house of Israel. All came to pass. All came to pass. So, what
is the promise itself? What will be done and what will
not be done? Well again, God's promise is
that that he is God, he is the great I am, right? He does not change. Malachi 3
says, then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant
unto the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. I will come near to you in judgment.
I'll be swift, a swift witness against the sorcerers, against
the adulterers, and against false swears. and against those that
oppress the hireling and his wages, the widow, the fatherless,
and that turn aside the stranger from his right and fear not me,
saith the Lord of hosts, for I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, because he is the
Lord, L-O-R-D, because he is the Lord and he changes not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Because he changes
not. That's why we sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And that's our hope and that's
our comfort. God's promise is that he is God. He's the Lord Jehovah. He's Jehovah
my provider. And that does not change. He's
the Lord my healer. He's the Lord my victory, my
banner. He's the Lord who sanctifies and separates. He's the Lord,
my peace. He's the Lord, the good shepherd. He's the Lord,
my righteousness, right? He's Jehovah who is there. Who's
who's present. That's the promise that he is
who he says he is. All the, all the names of our
Lord is who he is all the time. Jehovah is all together. Absolutely. Holy and sovereign. I'm struck,
and I mention it frequently, in our laws, there's about one
paragraph of law and about five paragraphs of exceptions and
explanation. That's the world that we live
in, a world of change and a world of exception, a world of what-ifs
that is subject to change. And that's just not the case.
As we read through the Holy Scriptures, that's not the case with our
Lord. altogether absolutely and always holy and sovereign. What did King Nebuchadnezzar
say when it was revealed unto him who God is? He said, he doeth
according to his will in the army of heavens and among the
inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say
unto him, what doest thou? He can't even question. I worked
for an apartment building when I was in college. I may have
told this story before. Forgive me. You get old. You
just retell stories all the time, right? So I was working in an
apartment building. And I was the lowest rung that
you could possibly be. And management made some decision
about a basketball tournament that we were having there in
the parking lot that I didn't agree with the decision that they made.
And I took it upon myself to write an email to management
let them know what I thought about that. And the response
I got was, you were in no position to question any decision made
by management, which is absolutely true. I was in no position to
even question, and that's a small, silly, little story about a great
big God. Who will even say unto him, what
doest thou? He changes not. The holy Jehovah
absolutely will not allow sin to be present. This holy, unchanging
God will destroy sin wherever it's found. Turn to Psalm chapter
five. Starting in verse four, for thou
art not a God, that hath pleasure and wickedness, neither shall
evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in
thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity.
Thou shalt destroy them that speak leasing. The Lord will
abhor the bloody and deceitful man." The Lord doesn't change. He absolutely will not allow
sin in his presence. He'll destroy it wherever it's
found. Romans 6 says, for the wages of sin is what? It's death,
right? For the wages of sin is death.
In Habakkuk, we read, Thou art of purer eyes than to behold
evil. Canst not look upon iniquity. Absolute holiness. Absolute holiness
that we can't enter into unless we read and we're given eyes
to believe. We can't enter into that level of holiness. He's
of purer eyes than to even behold evil. Exodus 33, God says to
Moses, as Dan quoted this morning, Thou canst not see my face, for
there shall no man see me and live. That's the degree of absolute
holiness, and God doesn't change. God's holiness and goodness will
absolutely consume us in our sinful state, just as it would
have consumed Moses, but Moses was hit in Christ, right? He
was hit in the rock. God will not change. Yesterday, today,
and forever, God's promise is that I, the Lord, I change not.
Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Remember, we talked
about what will be done, and we also talked about what will
not be done. That's the element of a promise, right? What will
be done? Well, God is who he says he is. He's holy, and he's sovereign,
and he's just, and he's love. And not one of those contradicts
the other. They're not varying degrees of
either. When he displays his love, it's not like he doesn't
display his sovereignty or he doesn't display his justice.
Where he displays his justice, he also displays his love at
the same time. Where he displays his love, he also displays his
justice at the same time. He the Lord, he will not change.
Therefore, we sons of Jacob are not consumed. Romans 5 says,
whereas by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned. Lord
says that. We sons of Jacob are not consumed
because he changes not. Because he changes not. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 40.
Let's read this together. Isaiah chapter 40. Starting in verse six, this chapter
starts with the Lord commanding Isaac to comfort his people,
right? It starts with, comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Here
in verse six, the voice said, cried, he said, what shall I
cry? All flesh is grass, all the goodliness thereof is as
the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. How do we
comfort each other? How do we comfort ourselves?
How did David comfort himself? Have you cast me off, Lord? How
do we comfort each other and how do we comfort ourselves?
The word of the Lord shall stand forever. That's God's promise.
God will not change. How is this promise? I am the
Lord. I change not. How is that my
comfort? Well, to answer that, we have to consider the other
two parts of the promise, which is who's the promiser? and who's
the promisee, right? So who's the promisor? That's
the one making the promise. Our text back in Joshua says
there in verse 45, there faileth not ought of any good thing which
the Lord hath spoken under the house of Israel, all came to
pass. This same Lord who made the promise
to change not, can he be? Who's the promisor? Let's put
the promisor to the test. Because if I tell you I'm going
to do something, Maybe I have the best of intentions, but the
fact of the matter is, it's not in my hand. Right? Consider who
the promisee is. I don't control a second from
now. I don't control this second.
So maybe I have the best of intention of doing something that I intend
to do. Maybe we plan to go out to eat this afternoon. I don't
know. Maybe we will, maybe we won't. You got to consider who
the promisee, promisor is, which is why the scripture instructs
us to say, right? Lord willing. Lord willing, I'll
do this. The scripture tells us to talk
that way, not to say I will, because I, the promisor, don't
have a lot of authority there. But who's the promisor of this,
right? There faileth not of any good
thing which the Lord hath spoken. So let's consider who the promisor
is. This same Lord who made the promise to change not. Can he
be perfectly just and perfectly holy? and perfectly love? Is he able and does he have the
right? Is it in his nature? Is he willing? And when we say the word willing
when we're talking about God, willing when we're talking about
us is a function of time. I'm willing to. I'm agreeable
to do that. You've convinced me I'll do it.
But it's a function of time, something I will do in the future.
Willing, when we're talking, when we're referencing God as
a verb, he's actively willing. It's his purpose, as Dan talked
about this morning, not a plan, not something, it's not a function
of something that is going to happen in the future. It's a
function of his action. He is willing. Is the Lord willing? Is he willing to be perfectly
holy and just and love? God changes not. Is it consistent
with his nature? Here's the question. Is it consistent
with his nature to be just and holy and love sinners? But here's the real question.
Is it consistent with his nature to change not and be just and
holy and love me? That's the question. And love
me. Since Adam fell from the garden. There's only been one approach
to God that's been accepted. Every man-made approach to God
comes from our sinful mind and our sinful heart. It springs
from this sinful heart that we inherited from our father Adam.
And it always tries to get God to change one of those things. Even as Adam did. Even as we
do. Left to ourselves What springs
from our heart is some semblance of, well, from point A to point
B, I've been holy by my definition, and I'm going to ask that you
accept that. And not only are we asking God
to never mind prior to A and never mind past B, we're also
asking him to accept our definition of holiness. When the scripture
says he can't even look upon sin. We have no concept of what
holiness is. But that's what we'll come up
with left to ourselves. We're going to ask God to lower his
standard in order to show me love. That was Cain's way. Turn over to Mark chapter 7,
if you would. Because that's a God, that God
that changes is a God that my evil mind can imagine. That's
something I can come up with, a God that changes. Esau and Jacob. I can imagine,
it's not at all hard for me to imagine a God that hates Esau.
That I can relate to. But I can't imagine a God that
loves Jacob. How can that be without him changing? How can that be? Mark chapter
7. Here Christ has just finished
talking with the Pharisees about false worship. And he says to
his disciples, do you not perceive that whatever thing from without
entereth into the man, it cannot defile him, because it entereth
not into his heart, but into his belly and goes out in the
draught, purging all means. And he said, that which cometh
out of the man, that defileth the man, not what cometh in,
what cometh out of the man, that defileth the man, for from within,
out of the heart of men, precede evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications,
murders. This is what comes from our heart.
This is a long list. Evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, and evil
eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from
within and defile the man. The evil. All the thoughts that
we come up with outside of Christ, all the thoughts of our mind,
all the thoughts of our heart, outside of what is revealed in
his word, what's given to us in the new heart, what's given
to us, the old heart, everything that flows from the old heart,
that long list is all summed up in one word, evil. Evil. We sang this morning, no evil
can harm me. Under his wings, right? No evil
can harm me. I tend to think of that as evil coming from without.
And that's true. No evil from without can harm
us. We're under his wings. The Lord protects us. It's also
true of the evil within. Which is a bigger concern. That
evil that flows from within. Under his wings, in Christ, that
evil can't harm me. Our attempt to approach God outside
of this one way, Abel's way, right? The blood sacrifice of
Christ. Any attempt to approach unto
God outside of Abel's way, that one way, It's not harmless foolishness. What does Christ call this foolishness?
Again, he was just talking to his disciples about false worship.
This false worship, verse 23 there in Mark, is evil. In any approach unto God outside
of Abel's way, outside of Christ, is evil. And we tend to think,
well, gosh, they were sincere. I'm so sick of hearing that,
and I'm so sick of thinking that. That comes from my own mind. Oh, my
goodness, I respect the sincerity. Outside of Christ, let's call
it what it is. It's evil, right? That's what the scripture calls
it. Outside of Christ, that approach unto God, outside of Christ,
outside of Abel's sacrifice, it's treason. It's evilness.
It's an attempt on his throne, and it's an attempt to change
God. Just as Dan mentioned this morning, When Esau sold his birthright,
it was ruining, it was an affront to the picture of the firstborn
of Christ. It's an attempt to change who
Christ is. I, the Lord, I change not. Therefore
ye sons of Jacob aren't consumed. And back to that sincerity, the
scripture doesn't say it, so don't quote me, but I imagine
Cain was sincere, don't you? I imagine Cain worked when he
brought the the work of his hands in my mind, it was sincere and
it was by the sweat of his brow. And he brought that in sincere
work before God. He was, he brought his best, but does that matter? Are we,
I mean, are we going to, is Cain going to base his salvation on
his sincerity, his hope on his sincerity? Scripture calls that
false worship. arising from the imagination
of our own hearts. Evil heart produces evil work. Outside of Christ, that's exactly
what our hope is before God. Outside of Christ, that's our
best hope, an evil, treasonous attempt to change God and to
dethrone Him. But God's promise to not change, it's our comfort
because of who He is. It's because of who He is. If
we would just hear, if all we ever heard in our lives was the
first four words of the Bible, We should put ourselves right
where we ought to be, right in the dust before God. If all we
ever heard of God was, in the beginning, God. And that was all we ever heard.
Shouldn't that, shouldn't just those four words put us on our
face in the dust before a holy God? In the beginning, God. Because
he's worthy, right? It's his right that we worship
him because in the beginning, God. And it's right that we worship
Him in the beginning God. Turn over to Isaiah chapter 40. In the beginning God, we worship
Him because it's His right, not because we should, not because
we have to, not in order to get something from Him. He's going
to smile on us for worshiping Him because it's His right. Isaiah chapter 40, starting in
verse 12. Who hath measured the waters
in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span,
excuse me, with the span, and comprehended the dust of the
earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and
the hills in a balance? Who hath directed the spirit
of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him? With whom took
he counsel? Who instructed him, and taught
him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and
showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations are as a
drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance.
Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing. Lebanon
is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient
for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as nothing. They
are counted to him less than nothing in vanity." Isn't that
in our best state, right? In our best state, we're all
together vanity. Less than nothing in vanity. To whom then will
you liken God or what likeness will you compare unto him? He's
sovereign. He's able. We find comfort in
God's promise in who he is. He's sovereign. He's able. He's
unchangeable. God's promise is that he will
be God. And as the God of in the beginning, God, he has the
right and ability to perform that. Now, the promisee, that
is, to whom is the promise made? Turn over to Hebrews chapter
six, if you would. God's promise is to himself. We heard this summer we were
at a service and we heard the pastor say, in the beginning,
before the foundation of the world, God the Father, God the
Son, God the Holy Spirit made a promise within themselves.
I will elect a people I will save the people I will call the
people. That's where the promise is. Man's not in that promise
anywhere. This is this is God fulfilling
his promise to God. As you're there in Hebrews chapter
6, let me read out of Genesis chapter 22 first. And the angel
Lord called under Abraham out of heaven the second time. And
said by myself have I sworn, sayeth the Lord. For because
thou has done this this thing and it's not withheld thy son,
thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the
sand which is upon the seashore and thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of
the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. He
said, I've, I've sworn by myself, right? And now let's read the
commentary here, here in Hebrews chapter six. excuse me, Hebrews
chapter six. For when God made promise, singular,
for when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear
by no greater, he swear by himself saying, surely blessing, I will
bless thee and multiplying I'll multiply thee. God's promise
is unchangeable. God's promise is sure because
of who he is. God's promise is sealed with
an oath to himself because he can swear by no greater. God's
promise is certain. And aren't we thankful God's
promise isn't with us? Hmm. I'm certainly thankful God's
promise isn't with us. I, the Lord, I change not. Therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. If it was a promise with me where
I had any responsibility in that whatsoever, that promise would
be broken. God's promise was with himself and he changes not. Therefore, that's our comfort. Dan read this morning where Solomon
said, blessed be the Lord that hath given rest unto his people
Israel according to all that he promised, there hath not failed
one word of all his good promise, singular, which he promised by
the hand of Moses, his servant. His good promise. And as I studied,
I was focused on the word promise, but then I started picking up
on that word good too. His good promise. If he wasn't, if he sacrificed
any of his attributes, his absolute justice, his absolute sovereignty,
his absolute holiness, his absolute love, if he sacrificed any of
his, of his essence of who he is, it would
no longer be good, right? For he is good and his promise
follows his goodness. that he is God and there is none
else. God's promise to Abraham is a
comfort to us. It's a picture of God's promise to his people
in Christ. Back here into Joshua, chapter
24. Listen to all the enemies that
God defeated for Israel. Joshua 24, starting in verse
11. First, before we read this, stay
there in Joshua, but listen to his promise to Abraham in Deuteronomy.
When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land, whether thou
goest to possess it and hath cast out many nations before
thee, there's seven, the Hittites, the Gergesites, the Amorites,
the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, seven
nations greater and mightier than thou. Now we pick up here
in Joshua chapter 24. Verse 11, and he went over Jordan
and came into Jericho and the men of Jericho fought against
you. Here's the same seven that he promised. The Amorites, the
Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Girgashites, the
Hivites, and the Jebusites, just exactly as God had said in Deuteronomy.
And I deliver them into your hand. And I sent the Hornet before
you, which drave them out from before you, even the two Kings
of the Amorites. but not with thy sword, not with
thy bow. I have given you a land for which
ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell
in them, and the vineyards and the olive yards which ye planted
not do ye eat." Again, God's children were not, in God's promise
in Christ, were not participants in the promise. You do this and
I'll do that. God promised within himself.
God's children were the recipients, right? We're not participants
in the promise, if you will, we're recipients of the promise.
Now what it says there at the end of in verse 13 that we just
read, I've given you a land for which ye did not labor, cities
which ye built not. Ye dwell in them, of the vineyards
and olive yards which ye planted not. We rest in God's promise
and in all of God's work in Christ. Because it's according to his
good pleasure. It's according to his will and his power. It's all
according to him. Again, left to ourselves, the
best we come up with, scripture says, we're altogether vanity.
In our best state, we're altogether vanity. Altogether full of pride.
And from this fallen heart which we inherited from our father,
Adam, we produce some version of this thought. And like Dan
said this morning, I'm hesitant to even say this from a pulpit,
so you forgive me. But we produce some version of
this. I was born sinful, but given
enough time, given enough time, I was able to change God's mind.
And he decided to save me. That's works in a nutshell. Given
enough time, I was able to do enough good things, change God
somehow. That's deadly thinking. Scripture
calls that evil. And I would that our minds would
just hear, I the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. That's our peace, that's our
comfort. But how can this be? How can that be? The fact that
he changes not, we're not consumed. How can that be my comfort? Paul
says in second Corinthians, for all the promises of God in him,
that is in Christ, our yea and in him, amen, under the glory
of God by us. In Christ Jesus and only in Christ
Jesus is found this fulfillment of the promise. of God to be
God. In Christ, God reveals his unchanging
self, and in Christ he expresses his sovereignty, his holiness,
his justice, and his love, all in Christ, all to 100%, never
to varying degrees, all always. Our pastor preached a couple
Wednesdays ago about the spoils The spoil's not divided. Every
believer, every child of God gets all of Christ, right? He's not divided. We see in Christ
pure holiness, pure justice, pure sovereignty, and pure love
and mercy and grace to sinners without sacrificing the other.
Does that make sense? To me, that's such a blessing
that our comfort is in his justice. Because when God poured his justice
upon Christ my sacrifice, there is no justice left for me. For
him to now punish those in Christ, God would have to change. And
Lord our God says, I change not. He'd have to sacrifice his justice
to punish a sinner in Christ. There's no justice. There's no
judgment left. It's been poured out onto Christ
and into Christ. So we see all of his holiness
and his justice and his love. How can God be holy and also
compassionate to sinners? Psalm 85 is where we hear the
verse a lot. Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed one another. Truth shall
spring out of the earth and righteousness shall look down from heaven.
Christ, out of that very earth that Adam caused to be cursed,
truth shall spring out. That's Christ bringing truth within himself
from that earth. In Christ, God fulfilled his
promise to be God. He was fully sovereign, holy,
just, and loving when God said of Christ, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. And when he said that, God was
perfectly just and holy and sovereign and loving. because Christ was
sinless. It was right for him to say that. God can't behold. He can't even look upon sin.
It was right for him to say, I'm well pleased in Christ because
Christ was sinless. He was fully sovereign, holy,
just, and loving when God turned his back on Christ and caused
his son for the first, for the only time in scripture to not
call him father, but to call him God. My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? Why are art thou so far from
helping me from the words of my roaring? Was that, was God
just, was God just to turn his back on Christ? He was because
the sin of his people was laid on Christ. It wasn't as if it
was laid on Christ, then God would have as if turned his back
on Christ, but that's not what happened. The sin of his people
was laid on Christ in his body on the tree. The scripture says
Christ truly bore the sin of his people in his body on the
tree. God fulfilled his promise. When
he said, I, the Lord, I change not, he fulfilled his promise
in Christ right there when he turned his back on Christ and
he changed not. In justice, in holiness, he turned
his back on Christ because God said, I, the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. And where he saw sin in Christ, he destroyed it
because he is the Lord and he changes not. And that's our comfort. Sovereign, holy, just, and loving
when God raised Christ from the dead. Acts 2 says, he seeing
this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This
Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses, therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted. Just as he was holy
and just and right for God to turn his back on Christ, as he
bore our sin. It was equally wholly just and
right for God to receive Christ and exalt him at his right hand
because his sacrifice was accepted. And in Christ there is no more
sin. It was right for God to say in
Christ, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. It
was right and it was just. It was right and it was just
for God to turn his back on Christ. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? It was right for God to accept
Christ's sacrifice and seat him on his right hand, exalted, because
the sacrifice is accepted. If God sacrificed Christ as if
he bore our sin, then Christ is now as if he were sitting
on the right hand of God. And that's not true. Christ truly
bore the sin of his people. Christ truly died. as a sacrifice
for sin. Christ truly, truly bore that
sin away, gone, truly did. Christ is truly raised and is
truly on the right hand of God, exalted. In all of those things,
God did perfectly in justice without sacrificing his holiness,
his justice, his sovereignty, or his love, not for a second. He turned his back on his son
in love? Yes. In love for us. and holiness. In Christ, God fulfills his promise
to be God when he accepts sinners. When he accepts sinners that
come to his throne of mercy for Christ's sake. When a sinner
comes to his throne of mercy for Christ's sake, God is fully
holy, sovereign, and just and loving to accept that sinner.
It's right for God to accept sinners in Christ. It's just
for God to accept sinners in Christ. It's holy How can anything
associated with this sinner be holy? It's holy for God to accept
sinners in Christ, in Christ, for Christ's sake. Romans 8 says,
now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also
live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth
no more. Death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died,
he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto
God. Likewise, reckon ye yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore,
in Christ, the God-man, listen to all of these promises that
are an extension of the promise. The promise is, I, the Lord,
I change not. And listen to all of these extensions of that promises,
all of which he's always sovereign, holy, just, and loving when he
says, I will. John 6 says, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. Him that cometh to me, I will
in no wise cast out. Why is that? Because God is who
he says he is. And it's holy and right and just
and loving for him to accept sinners in Christ. Matthew 11
says, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. I
will give you rest. Why is that? Because of who the
promiser is. He has the right to say that
because of in Christ. He is holy and just and loving
to do so. Luke 5 says, it came to pass
when he was in a certain city, behold a man, a man full of leprosy,
which that's a picture of sin, a man completely full of leprosy,
full of sin, who seeing Jesus fell on his face and besought
him saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. That's
a good prayer right there. If you will, Lord, you can't
make me clean. And what did Christ do? He put
forth his hand and touched him, saying, I will. Be thou clean. And immediately, the leprosy
departed from him. And he was perfectly holy and just and sovereign
and right and loving in doing so. Promise fulfilled. John says, I will not leave you
comfortless. I will come to you. And because
our Lord changes not, because of who he is in Christ, not changing,
we can trust that promise. John 6, this is the will of him
that sent me, that everyone which seeth the sun and believeth on
him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. How do we know that? Even when
I look around and maybe I think the evidence isn't that, doesn't
lead to that conclusion. Maybe I come up with that. You
know, a lot of conclusions also spring from the same evil heart
or the same evil mind. And I, I look and I get discouraged
just as I know you all do from time to time. It doesn't change
the promise. My feelings, my feelings don't
change the promise. I, the Lord, I change not. Therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. I will raise him up at the last
day and we can trust that promise because he is who he says he
is. John 17. Further, excuse me, Father, I
will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where
I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given
me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world.
We can trust his promise because of who he is. Turn with me in
closing here to 2 Peter chapter 3. Remember, we talked about the
elements of a promise being both what is, what the promise, what
the promisor will do and also what the promisor will not do. Second Peter chapter three here
in verse nine, the Lord is not slack concerning
his promise as some men count slackness, but as long suffering
to us word, not willing. that any should perish, but that
all should come to repentance. And we can trust this promise
also that all will come to repentance. All that the father giveth him
shall come to him, right? They shall. He's not willing that
any should perish. And we can trust that because
of who he is. He is the God in the beginning
God. He is the God that said, this
is my beloved son and who I'm well pleased. He's the God that
turned his back on that son in justice and in love. He's the
God that raised Christ from the dead in justice and in love. He's the same God that says in
Christ, come to me, come to me, all you that are weary, heavy
laden, I will give you rest. He makes that promise, right,
because I the Lord, I change not. My acceptance with God is
absolutely sure, it's certain. As a result of what? As a result
of his sovereignty, as a result of his holiness, His justice
and his love, which is all found always and only in Christ in
Christ. So that when I'm discouraged,
one more verse came to mind when I'm when I'm discouraged, which
is frequent. Then this verse comes to mind. Let God be true
in every man, a liar. Most importantly, this name coming
from right here, those those those words that Again, I reference
the Psalms because I relate so well to David, talking to himself. I talk to myself and I hear my
voice and it comes from this evil heart. And what it's saying
is true. You're not good enough and you
never will be. There's no reason here that God would accept me. And that's true. God will eventually, this is
my voice talking to me, God will eventually come to his senses
and cut you off. And then I find plenty of evidences for that.
But that springs from an evil heart. Let God be true, and every
man a liar. God says, I the Lord, I change
not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. The scripture says, there hath
not failed one word, not one word, of all his good promise.
That's our comfort, right? In Christ, in Christ. Amen. Let's pray together. Our Holy Father, we pray that
this morning that we worship you and that you bless and that
your word go forth according to your will. Father, you know
our need. And we bring our need as well
as our needs to your feet and pray that you take care as you've
promised. And most importantly, Pray that
your name be lifted up, that you be with us through this upcoming
week. We thank you for being a God
of your promise, who's able and willing and just and loving,
and we're thankful. We pray for our pastor, that
you heal his body, bring him back to us safely soon. We pray
this in Christ's name, alone, amen. If you would, turn in your hymnal
to song number 393 and stand as we sing, Take My Life and
Let It Be. Take my life and let it be. consecrated Lord to Thee. Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of Thy love, at the impulse of Thy love. Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee. Take my voice and let me sing,
always only for my King, always only for my King. Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages for thee. Take my silver and my gold, not
a mite would I withhold, not a mite would I withhold. Take my love, my God, I implore,
at Thy feet its treasures store. Take myself, and I will be ever,
only, all for Thee, ever, only, all for Thee. Please.