I'm going to quote a familiar
scripture, but I. Would like you to think as if
this is the first time you've ever heard this scripture. Malachi
chapter three, verse six. The Lord said. I am Jehovah. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore. You sons of Jacob,
the elect, are not consumed. Why is it that you're not consumed?
Why is it that I'm not consumed? Because he changes not. Now this is a glorious statement
with regard to the immutability of God. This is a non-communicable
attribute of God, only he Changes not. He's immutable in his essence. Whatever his essence is, we can't
really tell. But whatever it is, he's immutable
in it. He's immutable in his attributes.
He's always sovereign. He's always been sovereign. He
always will be sovereign. He's always all-powerful. He's
always been all-powerful. He'll always be all-powerful.
He's always independent. He's always been independent.
He'll always be independent. I love what Joe McSherry used
to say to me going out that door so many times. We're completely
dependent upon an independent God. Amen. He's immutable in all of his
glorious attributes. He's immutable in his purpose.
He never changes his mind. He never changes his purpose.
It's absolutely immutable. He's not like us where he lacks
the wisdom to foresee what's going to happen and might prevent
it. No, he controls everything. And he has the power to make
sure his will is always done. I'm the Lord. I change not. This can only be said of God.
It can't be said of anybody else. It can't be said of me or you.
I am the Lord. I change not. Me and you change
a million times a day. I am the Lord. I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Now, this same thing is said
with regard to the Lord Jesus Christ in our text. Jesus Christ
the same. Yesterday, today, and Now, this
verse stands alone, but it's between verses 7 and 9, so let's
read verses 7 through 9 together. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the
word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their
conversation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and
forever be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. For it's a good thing that the
heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not
profited them. that have been occupied therein. Now, if I'm not deceived, and
I don't say that lightly, if I'm not deceived, and you could
look into my heart, I believe you would see these
three things as my three greatest desires. And I have no doubt
that if you're a believer, they're your greatest desires too. Number
one, I want to be found in Christ. I have such a great desire that
when God sees me, all he sees is Jesus Christ. I want to be
found in Christ and know him. I don't want simply to know about
him. I don't want to be dropping his
name. I want to know him so that he knows me. I want to know Christ. Like Paul said in Philippians
three, I want to win Christ and be found in him. I want to know
him. Now, the second desire that you
would find if I'm not deceived is that I want to preach the
gospel. I want to preach the gospel of
the scriptures. The gospel of which Christ said,
the spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. I want to preach the same
gospel he did, and I want to preach it just as wide as he
did, and I want to preach it just as narrow as he did. I'm
persuaded of it. Not done it as it should have
been done. I don't suppose anybody has ever
preached the gospel as free as it is. And I don't think anybody's
ever preached the gospel as narrow as it truly is. But that's what
I want to do. I want to preach the gospel in its freeness, its
wideness, its inclusiveness. And I want to preach the gospel
in its narrowness and its exclusiveness, just the way the Lord did. I want to preach the same gospel
Abel did. I want to preach the same gospel
Abraham did. I want to preach the same gospel
David did. I want to preach the same gospel
Moses did. I want to preach the same gospel
Peter and Paul did. I want to preach the gospel of
the scriptures. I want to be found in Christ. I want to know
him. That's number one. And secondly, I desperately want
to preach the gospel. And that burden, the older I
get, the more comes to me. I want to preach the gospel.
I don't want to give my thoughts. I don't want to give so-and-so's
thoughts. I want to preach the gospel of God. And the third thing that I desire
is I want whoever God gives me to preach to, I want God to save
them by the message of the gospel. I want the people that I'm preaching
to for the Lord to save them. And anything that's not that,
it goes under the category of what the writer to the Hebrews
calls diverse and strange doctrines. Now look in verse seven. Remember them which have the
rule over. Now, my marginal reading says,
remember them which are your guides. Now, I know preachers
have used this, I've got the rule over you. You need to do
what I say. You need to spin the way I tell
you to spin. You need to go where I tell you
to go. You need to stay away from the places I tell you to
stay with. I've got the rule over you. That's not what that
is saying at all. And if a preacher presents it
in some kind of way like that, he's missed the spirit of what
it is to be a preacher in the first place. Look in verse 17,
it says, obey them that have the rule over you. And that word
obey is the word generally translated, be persuaded by them. Be persuaded
by them that are your guides. Be persuaded by them. Believe
what they say if they're telling the truth. Be persuaded by them
that are your guides. And submit yourselves, for they
watch for your souls, as they must give an account, that they
may do it with joy and not with grief, for this is unprofitable
for you. Back to verse seven. Remember them which have the
rule over you, which are your guides, who have spoken unto
you the word of God. Now that's my one responsibility,
to speak to you. The Word of God. Not my words, not my thoughts. What did Paul say to Timothy
when he gave him his charge? Timothy, preach the Word. That's all I want to do. Preach
the Word. And look what he says next in
verse seven. Whose faith follow. Now let me tell you what my faith
is from the word. Jesus Christ is the only righteousness
I have. I look to him only. I don't look to him and something
else. I don't look to him and my experience.
I don't look to him and my preaching. I don't look to him and my I
don't have any understanding. I don't look to him and anything
that, it doesn't have anything to do with me. My salvation is
what he did for me. And I look to him only. That's
my faith. Right now, while I'm talking
to you, the only hope I have is that Jesus Christ lived, died,
and was raised again for me. And I am relying on him only. Follow that faith. Look what he says next, considering
the end or the goal of their conversation. Now, what is the
end or goal of their conversation? Jesus Christ, the same. Yesterday,
today, and forever. Now this office is scriptural,
pastor, elder, bishop, whatever you want. Scripture uses those
three names. I love that passage, if a man
desireth the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. Now, this thing is a calling. If I am truly a pastor, it's
not something I thought, I think I want to be a pastor. I don't
want to be a plumber. I don't want to be a I want to be a pastor. I'm going to go to school to
be a pastor. I'm going to study to be a pastor. I'm going to
go to seminary and I'm going to get the degrees. Then I'm going to
get me a job. I'm going to put out my resumes and the church
that calls me, I'll be their pastor. Do you have any idea
how ridiculous that is? That's utterly offensive. That's
not the way that works. It's not a job. It's a calling. If I'm a true pastor, I'm called
of God for this office. Not something that I decided
this is what I wanna do. That's professional. We got way
too many professional preachers. That's what they do for a living.
That's what they studied for. That's their jobs. That's what
they get paid for. I'm a professional preacher.
I'm a pastor. That's not what this is. It's
a calling, a divine calling. Now where this call is, there's
a desire. If a man desires the office,
of a bishop. There's a desire. That's what
I want to do. You know, I've heard preachers
say, well, I tried to run from God. Not if God's calling you.
You're not trying to run from that. You want to do it if that's
what the Lord would have you do. If a man desires the office of
a bishop, he desires a good work. But where there's this desire,
there must also be a gift. There's a gift to communicate
the gospel. And if that gift is not there,
the call is not there. There is a gift to communicate
the gospel. And where there is this desire,
where there is this call, there's going to be a hearing. There's
going to be somebody to preach to. You know, somebody says,
well, people can't figure out God's called me. Why can't they
see it? Well, if that's the case, he did. Uh, if someone has called
a man to preach the gospel, he will have a hearing. Somebody
is going to listen to him, preach the gospel. Now, Paul or whoever
wrote Hebrews is speaking of this. Them that have the rule
over you, who spoken unto you, the word of God, whose faith
follow considering the end, the goal of their conversation. And here it is, Jesus Christ,
the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. I love what Paul says, for me
to live is Christ, to die is gain. Now, my purpose, my goal,
if God has called me to preach, is this, Jesus Christ the same. Yesterday, today, and forever. Now, if I don't preach him in
his immutability and all that that implies, I don't preach
him, period. You see, if you preach him in
his immutability, that he doesn't change, that he's always the
same, that means you must preach him as eternal. That means you
must preach him as God. There's so many implications
of that when he says this, but this is the end. This is the
goal of every true preacher, Jesus Christ, the same and anything
that does not fall under that. Is what he calls in verse nine,
a diverse and strange doctrine, something not found in the scripture,
something not real Jesus Christ the same. So we see this statement
in the context between verses seven, verse nine, but this statement
stands on its own. Doesn't it? Jesus Christ. The same yesterday. today and forever. It's saying the same thing Malachi
did in Malachi 3, 6, when the Lord said, I am the Lord, I change
not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed. Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Therefore, you sons of Jacob. Now the sons of Jacob are the
elect. Jacob have I loved. Esau hath I hated. The sons of
Jacob are all of his people. He's the God of Jacob. Oh, what
a name for the Lord, the God of Jacob, the God of all of his
Jacobs. I am the Lord. I'm Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today forever. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. He does not change what he was
yesterday. He is today. what he is today,
he always will be. Jesus Christ the same. Now this
is really the way the writer to the Hebrews began this book.
Turn to Hebrews chapter one. This has already been stated. I don't read most of this first
chapter. It's such a glorious chapter.
God, what a way to start this book.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times
past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last
days spoken unto us by Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all
things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness
of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins." I'm so thankful it says that. It doesn't say
when he purged himself, it says when he by himself purged our
sins. That means no help from me or
you. No contribution from me or you. He did this by himself. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on
high, being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by
inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which
of the angels said he at any time, thou art my son, This day
have I begotten thee, and again, I'll be to him a father, and
he shall be to me a son. And again, when he bringeth the
first begotten into the world, he saith, and let all of the
angels of God worship him. And of the angels, he saith,
who maketh his angels spirits, his ministers a flame of fire.
But unto the son, he saith, now this is God speaking, Unto the
Son, He, God, saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever. It's eternal. It's immutable. A scepter of righteousness is
the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And
thou Lord, remember this is the father speaking to the son, and
thou Lord in the beginning has laid the foundation of the earth.
And the heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall perish,
but thou remainest. And they all shall wax old as
doth a garment. And as a vesture shall thou fold
them up and they shall be changed, but Thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail. To say that Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today, and forever is to say that Jesus Christ is
God. I love to say that. Jesus Christ the same. Jesus. That's the Greek translation
of the Hebrew word Messiah. No, that's Christ, I'm sorry.
I'm getting ahead of myself. Jesus is the Greek translation
of the Hebrew word Joshua. Joshua. Jesus. Now, what is the significance
of that? Would you turn with me for a
moment to Numbers chapter 20? I'm sure you're familiar with
this story, but it's when the children of Israel started murmuring
once again when they started asking for water and Moses got
upset with the reaction but let's look at verse 7 of Numbers chapter
20. And the Lord spake unto Moses saying, Take the rod and gather
thou the assembly, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto
the rock before their eyes. You see the rock had already
been smitten. Christ is not to be smitten twice. He died once
and he accomplished what he was going to do. Don't smite it. Speak to it. Speak to it. Before their eyes, and it shall
give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water
out of the rock. So thou shalt give the congregation
their beast drink. And Moses, Moses had a temper. And Moses took the rod from before
the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered
the congregation together before the rock. And he said to them,
here now, you rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock?
Can you see where he was in the flesh when he said that? Must
we fetch you water out of this rock? He wasn't right in saying
that. He was supposed to speak to the
rock and the water would come out. But must we fetch water
out of the rock, you rebels? And Moses lifted up his hand
and with his rod, he smote the rock twice. And the water came out abundantly.
And the congregation drank, and their beasts also. And the Lord
spake unto Moses and Aaron, because you believe me not, to sanctify
me in the eyes of the children of Israel. Therefore you shall
not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them. Now Moses brings them out of
Egypt. but he's not gonna bring them into the promised land.
And it was never God's purpose for him to bring them out of
the promised land or into Egypt. Why? Because of the law. He represents
the law. And the law can never bring anybody
into heaven. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can. Now Moses did this. He was wrong. He violated the type of Christ.
He doesn't get to go into the promised land, but God never
intended for him to. Who brought the children into
the promised land? Joshua. Who brings God's people
into heaven? Jesus, not Moses, not the law,
but the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 121, thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. The Lord said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, but
by me. There's never been another way.
I love the way he's called the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. My standing was then. That's why he doesn't change. He doesn't change. I was in Christ
before time began. He doesn't change. He changes
not. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. That is why
I'm not consumed. The Lord Jesus Christ who saves
his people from their sins. Now, Jesus Christ. Christ is
the Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. It means
anointed. Jesus, the Savior, Christ, the
anointed. Now, in the Old Testament, There
were three offices, all of which God had anointed with oil to
demonstrate His favor upon these men taking these offices. There's
the office of the prophet, there's the office of the priest, and
there's the office of the king. Jesus Christ, God's prophet,
God's priest, God's King. Now, in the Old Testament, no
man ever held all three of these offices. Only one man, the God-man,
holds all three of these offices as prophet, priest, and king. I love what John said in 1 John
5, who so believeth that Jesus is the Christ. is born of God. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? Now what all does that mean? First of all, He's
got the prophet. Now a prophet is the one who
brings men the Word of God. He is the Word of God. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. He's the communication of God.
Don't you love the way prophets would say, thus saith the Lord.
He never said that. He never said that. He said,
I say it to you. He is God's prophet bringing
the very Word of God because he is the Word of God. A priest, God's priest, a prophet
brings God's Word to men, a priest brings men to God. And he's like,
he's not like the Aaronic priests who died He's the prophet after
the order of Melchizedek, who ever lives. He never dies. And the efficacy of his priesthood. First, the Old Testament Aaronic
priests brought the animals of blood that could never take away
sin. He brings his own blood into the very presence of God.
On the altar of his body, he's both the priest, he's the altar,
and he's the sacrifice. He is all of those things, not
like any human priest. And I love the way he said, Father,
as the priest, listen to these words, Father, forgive them. He didn't say, would you please
forgive them? He didn't say, would you, would you, oh, I wish,
no, he said, Father, forgive them. And the Father forgave
them. He said, Father, I will. That they which you have given
me be with me where I am. Father, I will. Me and you can't
pray that way, can we? But he does. Because he's the
priest after the order of Melchizedek. And what a king. Prophet, priest,
and king. The King is the one whose will
is done, who has all authority and all power. I love the accusation
that was written over his head. Jesus of Nazareth, the King of
the Jews. Never has anything more true
been said. He is the King of the Jews. Every believer is a Jew. And his kingship is like no human
kingship in the sense that all earthly kings have borrowed authority. I love the scripture, power belongeth
unto the Lord. No man has any power at all.
People get so intimidated by men. His breath is his nostrils. God can take it away just like
that. He has no power. Pilate says to the Lord, don't
you know that I have power to release you and I have power
to let you go? He said, you could have no power
at all over me, except it be given thee from above. Oh, what authority he has as
the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And he has the power
to make sure his will is done. You know, I love the way even
the demons understood this. You remember in Mark chapter
5 when they said they didn't want to be cast back into the
deep and they said sufferers to go into the herd of swine.
They knew they couldn't even move from one place to another
without his permission because he is king of kings. He is Lord of lords. He's got the power to make sure
his will comes to pass. Jesus Christ Isn't that glorious? Jesus Christ the
same. Yesterday, today, and forever,
this Savior who is the Christ has the power to put my sin away. He really has the power to do
that, to make it to not be. He has the power and the authority
to give me His righteousness and make it my personal righteousness.
He has the power to perfectly conform me into His image. And this one who is Jesus Christ,
Savior, Prophet, Priest, and King is the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He's the same in His person.
Now there was a point in time when all the fullness of the
Godhead dwelled in a body. That's his incarnation. Whatever
time that was when he was conceived in the womb, all the fullness
of the Godhead dwelt in that body. But all the fullness of
God dwelled in him before he was in that body, because he's
the same yesterday, today, and forever. He has every attribute
of God eternally dwelling in him. Right now, the man in glory. He's the same in all of his attributes.
He's always sovereign. Aren't you glad? He's always
holy. He's always just. He's always
immutable. He's always omnipotent. He's
always omniscient. You can't go anywhere where He's
not. You say, well, how can He be omniscient if He's in a body? I don't know, but He is. Because
He said in John chapter 3, no man hath ascended into heaven
but the Son of Man which is in heaven. When He says that, I'm
in heaven right now. He said, Lo, I'm with you always,
wherever you go. He's omniscient, he's all wise. Every attribute of God, he is
all the time. He always has been, always will
be. Jesus Christ, the same. He's the same in his purpose. Never changes. John chapter 17,
verse four, he said, I've glorified thee on the earth. That's always
been his purpose. I finished the work thou gavest me to do
the work of saving his people from their sins. That purpose
never varies, never changes. It can't be reversed. It can't
be changed. He is the same. His purpose was to make known
the character of the father. And that's what he did in the
cross. The cross is the revelation of who God is. He's the same
in his love. Behold, I have loved you. with
an everlasting love. There was never a time when he
began to love his people. Listen to this scripture. As
the father hath loved me, now how did the father love him?
Immutably, perfectly, completely, He wasn't an unconditional love
to the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, people talk about unconditional
love. Oh, he wasn't. He loved the Lord Jesus Christ
because he's altogether lovely, altogether beautiful. Oh, the
perfection of his person as the Lord looked upon him. It wasn't,
you know, somebody says, I want to be loved unconditionally.
Well, not me. Here's the way I want to be loved.
He says, as the father loved me, so have I loved you. We wouldn't dare believe that
did not the word of God say it, but here he says it. As the father
loved me, even so have I loved you. His justifying work and
behalf of his people is immutable. It can't be reversed. It can't
be lost because it's eternal. There is therefore now, and that's
true all the time. even in eternity past, in eternity
future, it's always now, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. He's the same Lord that's over
all and rich unto all that call upon him. This is an immutable
promise, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. shall
be saved. That's immutable. Change and decay in all around
I see, O thou that changest not, abide with me. Now It's so whether we agree with
it or not, but would you not agree? Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today, and forever, and anything else is a strange,
diverse, foreign doctrine to the scripture. Jesus Christ,
the same yesterday, today, and forever, every aspect of the
gospel is in that glorious statement regarding our savior, Jesus Christ. What a name. Let's pray. Lord, by your grace, how we love
your son, how we Behold, his beauty. His glory. His excellency. His sufficiency. Lord, we stand amazed. That you
would give him. The son of your love. To save
sinners. And that he could say to us.
That he loves us as you love him. How we thank you for the
gospel of Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.