Turn to Hebrews chapter 1. They shall perish, but thou remainest. That's the title. They shall
perish, but thou remainest. And if he remains, and I'm in
him, I'll remain. I'll remain. He is my security. You know, I used to go to a place
years ago, and they believed in the eternal security of the
saint. And of course, their version
of it was after you made a profession, after you accepted Christ as
your Savior, then you were saved forever. You couldn't be lost
again. No, my eternal security is the Lord Jesus Christ, even
before the world began. That's our eternal eternal security,
Christ, thou remainest. Now, in verse 10, the writer
of Hebrews is drawn back to the creatorhood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He takes us back to the beginning,
and thou, Lord, in the beginning. So he takes us back to the beginning
and makes it very clear that the Creator, spoken of in
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, there
in Genesis 1.1, is the Lord Jesus Christ. He connects it. He's the Creator. The Christ
of the cross, that Nazarene, that one who was
despised and rejected of men, is the Creator of the world.
He's the Creator. And He does this to show that
the Lord Jesus Christ transcends all things created. He transcends
all of them. He is before. He is beyond. He is above. And he is outside
all things created. He transcends it all. This person,
Jesus Christ, is the most unique person that has ever walked on
this earth. None like him. He is the one
past finding out. How unsearchable are his riches.
How unsearchable is His person, God? And the writer of Hebrews
comes back to creation for the purpose of showing the Lord's
power once again over all things in order to encourage His children. This shows us also that all things
are subject to Him. Everything must answer to Him
who created it. Remember over in Philippians
it says, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that
he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. His power cannot
be checked. My power can be checked. His
power cannot be checked, which is good news. It's good news
because it means that he can take a rebel like me and make
me a son. He can take an enemy like me,
like I was, and make me a friend of God. I'm glad his power cannot be
checked because we'd check it. We would check it. Listen to Philippians. Let's
just turn over to Philippians. I want you to read it. In Philippians chapter three,
I was reading this just the other night, came across this verse. Let's go to verse 20 in chapter
three of Philippians. For our conversation is in heaven
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
who shall change our vile body." That's what he thinks about this
body. Our vile body. That it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body. Listen, according to the working
whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. He's able. That's what the writer
of Hebrews is saying. to subdue all things unto himself,
even a rebel like me." That's good news to me. That's good
news. And the writer of Hebrews points
this out also to show that Christ is eternal. And thou, Lord, he
says, in the beginning. See, he's speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ, clearly referring to Genesis Chapter 1, verse 1. He connects creation with the
eternality of the Lord Jesus Christ. He reaches back to the
beginning and connects creation to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he says, He laid the foundations of the earth. I read that to
you over here in Psalm 33. Listen again, I'll read it again.
In Psalm 33, verse 6. By the Word of the Lord were
the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the
sea together as a heap. He layeth up the deep in storehouses,
that all the earth fear the Lord, that all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of him. For he spake, and it was done.
He commanded, and it stood fast." Who's the psalmist speaking of?
We know from Hebrews he's speaking of that man, Jesus Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ, that's who He's speaking of. He laid the
foundation of the earth. He's the founder of the earth.
He established it. It belongs to Him. He's the potter. We are the clay. We're the clay. He says, even the heavens are
the works of thy hands. He didn't make one part and then
someone else make another part. It's all the work of His hands. The work of the Creator, which
is our Lord. Our Redeemer. Our Savior. The great expanse of heaven. And we still haven't plumbed
that depth. We still keep finding new things
out there and further and further and further. You know, we can
just keep making stronger telescopes and it'll still need a stronger
one. It's amazing. Well, He made that. He made that. How great and beautiful is the
heavens and the earth? How amazing are they? We ought
to stand in awe of His power just by what we see that He made. How rich are they? How rich is
this earth? But now listen, as great and
beautiful as they are and as rich as they are, they shall
perish. They shall perish. The ground
we walk on, sooner or later, will perish. It will be burned
up. It will perish. Everything of
this world shall perish. And we need to get this. We need
to get a hold of this. I need to get a hold of this.
They shall perish. Now that does not mean, that
does not mean that we are not to enjoy the things of this earth,
the things that God gives us out of it, but always remember,
always remember to let it go when it comes time to let it
go. And there will come a time to let it go. Just let it go. The heavens and the earth were
made for a time. You know, the fact that God set
time on it says that there's an end to it. Why do you time
things? Why do you time anything? Why
do you go in the morning and punch in? Why do you punch in
for? Because you've got eight hours
to work and you watch that clock. I'm telling you, you watch that
clock. You don't miss a break. You don't miss lunch hour. And you
watch that clock. And at the end of the week, you've
got your 40 hours in. And you go home for the weekend.
At least you hope to. Time says there's a beginning
and there's an end. That's what it says. God created
the earth in six days, seventh day He rested. But He started
time. And that time says that there's
an end to this. There is an end to this. That's
what it says. They shall perish. They were made for a time to
serve God's purpose, listen, in redemption. God's purpose
and redemption, all of this is for that purpose. The creation
of time, the fall, everything that's going on is for the purpose
of God's glory and redemption of sinners like you and me. Now listen, all of this was created and it
has its time, it has its purpose. But you know what the end purpose
is? I never really thought much about it until studying this.
The end purpose is this. There's going to be a new heaven.
There's going to be a new earth that's not going to end. And
it's going to be populated with a people just like his son. Just
like his son. That's what happens. Where God
is not ashamed to call them his people and they're not ashamed
to call him their God. and also that God might demonstrate
throughout the ages His grace on those people. Look over in
Ephesians chapter 2. In Ephesians chapter 2, in verse 7, that in the ages
to come, He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness
toward us through Jesus Christ. That's the purpose. That throughout
the ages, God is going to show the exceeding riches of His grace. You know, we see it. We've tasted
that the Lord is gracious. But when this is all over and
we are in His presence, then we are going to really understand
the riches the riches and the richness of God's grace to us
in Christ. Now listen, he said, they shall
perish, but thou remainest. Well, they thought they got rid
of him when they nailed him to a cross. Then when they took
him and put him in a grave, the Jews and even the Gentiles, the
world thought they got rid of him. But no, thou remainest.
Christ shall not perish. The Creator who created all this
shall remain. He remains. This is spoken for
our comfort. There is One who changes not. There is One who remains. Time
has no effect on Him. It has a lot of effect on me.
It has no effect on Him. Our Redeemer remains the same
in His love And His love to me and His love to His children,
it remains the same. I don't care how much they fall. I don't care how deep they fall,
how hard they fall. His love never diminishes. Never
diminishes. His purpose never changes. His
power to save never changes. You know, as I get older, I'm
getting weaker. I'm getting weaker. I get physically
weaker. I get emotionally weaker. His power is the same as it was
before He created the heavens and the earth. It's the same. His power to save is the same.
He transcends everything. And they all shall wax old as
doth the garment. They, not He. They shall grow
old. We see this every time we look
at ourselves, don't we? We see this every time we look
at ourselves. I thought that the other day.
I thought, man, you're getting older. I'm looking in the mirror
and I could see the bald spot getting bigger and wrinkles getting
deeper. You know, no one has ever had
a young disease. You don't get a disease when
you get younger, when you stay youthful. What is that disease? And I saw this on TV, this young
little kid had it, where he grew old fast. I can't remember the
name of the disease. And I was telling Jason one day,
we saw that, and I said, you notice sin never gives us anything
better? I said, we never get a disease
where we're actually better. You know, we actually stay youthful,
grow older, grow older. What do you do with worn out
clothes? You fold them up and you put
them away. They serve their purpose. You
see, this earth and this time has a purpose. And when it has
served its purpose, he's going to fold it up and put it away. He's going to put it away. One
day the Lord will fold all of it up. The Scripture says burn
it up. Burn it up. And He's doing this
to make way for that new heaven and new earth. Christ will not
leave a big void out here. He's not going to burn the earth
up and the heavens and leave it as a big void. He's going
to fill it with a new heaven and a new earth. The real meaning
here is that there's going to be a change. It's going to be an exchange.
It's going to be an exchange. It's going to do away with the
old and bring in the new. That's what's going to happen. Look over in Revelation chapter
21. In verse 5, he says, And he that
sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. New heaven, new earth, a new
you. We are a new creation in Christ
Jesus. Everything is new. All this here
is gone. Sin, Satan, gone. Sorrow gone. Behold, I make all things new.
And he said unto me, Now you write. You write this down. For these words are true and
faithful. It will happen. It will happen. Turn over to 2 Peter. 2 Peter
chapter 3. In 2 Peter chapter 3, look in
verse 10 But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, into which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to
be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat." Nevertheless, this does not scare us. This
does not scare the believer. The end of time does not scare
the believer. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for what? New heavens and a new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. Brethren, that's where we're
going. That's our future. I just read to you our future. And he says in verse 12, And
as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed. But thou art the same, thy years
shall not fail. Someday we will die, and this
old body will be put in the ground, and we'll wait there till our
change comes. It's written in Job 14.14, if
a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed
time will I wait till my change comes. We shall be changed in
the twinkling of an eye, Paul says over in 1 Corinthians 15. And we'll have an immortal body
fashioned like unto his glorious body. And there's a purpose in
all this. There shall be a people that
shall praise the Lord forever and ever, one day on that new
earth, in a new body, with the new heavens. When Christ has called out His
people, then shall He fold this all up and a change will be made. Do you believe this? Do you really
believe it? But what this shows here is this. These things will change. We
know change. Lord, do we know change. But He changes not. When the
Word, and I can't comprehend this, I'm just going to tell
it to you. When the Word was made flesh, the Word still did
not change. The Word didn't change. When He assumed that human nature,
He took upon Him flesh. Someone said He was God as if
He was never a man, and He was a man as if He was never God. He changes not. Speaking here
of the immutability of the Lord Jesus Christ. But thou art the
same, and thy years shall not fail. It says in Hebrews 13,
Verse 8, Jesus Christ the same. So we know who he's talking about.
Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. He's the same. He changes not.
He is the immutable God of eternity. Turn over to James chapter 1. James chapter 1. Listen, verse 17. Every good
gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from
the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning." What is said of the Father is said of the Son,
not even a shadow of turning. Look over in Malachi chapter
3, a very familiar scripture. Malachi chapter 3. Right before Matthew. In verse six, for I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. I said his love never changes,
his purpose never changes, and that's why you sons of election
are not consumed. You're not concerned. Christ
is immutable. You know what that means? It
means this. He never mutates. He never mutates. He never changes. Goes from one
thing to another. Never. He is ever the same. And this denotes stability. Stability. He's that rock that never moves. He's that rock that you and I
can stand on and never worry about it moving. He's that rock. Stability. As He was, so is He. And so shall He ever be. Never
changes. And this is given to us for assurance
and comfort. What if He changes? You think, what if He changes
things again? We have His Word on it. He changes
not. We have His Word that He will
not change. He will not change, listen, He
will not change what He has purposed. What has changed to us, and I
want you to listen to this, what has changed, I was thinking about
this today as I was over here studying, what has changed to
us is not changed to Him. It's the unfolding of His purpose.
It's what He purposed all along. Now, I change and these things
change, but He never changes. But He changes these things.
But all He's doing is unfolding His purpose, His eternal purpose. He's not changing all these things
because He messed up. I do that. You ever built something
and you just have to tear it down and start all over again?
I've done that more than once. No. He's fulfilling His eternal
decree. That's what's going on. The new heaven and the new earth
wherein dwells righteousness is the end result and our being on that new earth.
And being with Him forever and ever is the end result of what's
going on here. When will this happen? When will
this happen? It says in verse 13, But to which
of the angels said he, At any time sit on my right hand until
I make thine enemies? Yes, he has enemies. This man
who went about doing good, this man who went about healing, has
enemies. Until I make thine enemies thy
footstool, God the Father says to his son, sit down, sit down
on my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. He has his enemies. but he's conquered. Sin, he's
conquered that. Death, the last enemy that shall
be destroyed, it says, is death. He has his enemies, but they're
going to be conquered. They're going to be his footstool.
And then when he's made all his enemies his footstool, and he's
called that last one in, I believe you prayed that a while ago,
when he brings that last one in, Then he'll wind this up. He'll fold it up. Do away with
it. Be done away with it. Now, what
have we learned in closing? What have we learned from this
chapter? These 14 verses. I looked at
this today and I thought I could spend, well, you could spend
a lifetime. No, I could spend 14 weeks. Just
a week at a time in one verse. And still not scratch the surface.
You know, you look at something and you think you've got a hold
of it. And you realize, I ain't even
touched it. Not even touched it. But what have we learned? First, we've learned this in
this chapter, that the Son of God has come and He is the final
spokesman. He's the one whom God has finally
spoken to us through. I told this to a Mormon back
several years ago when I used to work for him. He says, you
mean to tell me that this Is all that God's going to say to
us? He was dead serious. He said, I don't believe that.
He believes there's new revelations. There's new things coming, you
know, that priest in that temple and he gets revelations from
God and he gives it out. No, no. Christ is the final spokesman. This is his word and this is
it until he comes. And then that the Christ of the
cross is the Creator of all things. I'll tell you what, if you really
see that in His true light, it's amazing what a person He is.
To be able just to speak and all this exists. And then that Christ is the image,
the Son of the Lord Jesus Christ, the man Christ Jesus, is the
image of the invisible God. You've seen me, you've seen the
Father. That's what He says. And that He by Himself has actually
purged us from our sins. They're gone. They're purged,
they're put away, washed clean in the blood of the Lamb. And
then we see that He's enthroned on high. This man that was so
despised and hated right now is seated at God's right hand
running the show. Everything. Everything. And that His person is so great
that even the angels are commanded to worship Him. They're commanded
to, Michael, Gabriel, worship Him. Do what He says. And we see that the rule of all
things is in His hands. And that there is an end to all
these things that we see. There's an end to these things.
They shall perish. But there shall be a change made.
It's just not going to be void. There's going to be a new heaven
and a new earth. And that in the midst of all
this change, there is one who changes not. There is one who
doesn't even cast a shadow from turning. And that his enemies shall be
made his footstool. Everyone, they shall be made
his footstool. And that the heirs of heaven,
the heirs of God, are cared for daily and nightly by his angels. He's given his angels charge
over you. Take care of them. Take care
of my little ones. Take care of my little ones.
I tell you what, if we actually learn this, we've learned something. And then we can do what the Scripture
said over there in Psalm 33, stand in awe of Him. And I have to ask myself when
I read things like that, do I really stand in awe of Him? Just totally
in awe. I pray God make it so.