While Drew was reading that scripture,
this stuck out at me in verse eight, the wise man says what
he said throughout this book, vanity of vanities saith the
preacher, all is vanity. So there's no point in us doing
anything. No. And moreover, because the
preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge. Even though
all things are vanity, he didn't give up and stop and become fatalistic. He still taught the people knowledge. I want to begin this message
by reading the New Testament interpretation of this passage
we just read in Genesis chapter 22. So would you turn with me
to Hebrews chapter six, where this passage is directly quoted
and there we have, I don't know if this is the right way to say
this, but here we have the New Testament interpretation of what
took place. Hebrews chapter six, verse 13. For God, for when God made promise
to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore
by himself. There wasn't anybody greater
to swear by. So he swore by himself. Say verse 14, surely blessing. I will bless thee and multiplying. I will multiply thee. And so after the, he had patiently
endured Abraham, he obtained the promise. Now let me stop
just for a moment after he had patiently endured. This is the
new Testament account. I can look in Genesis chapter
16 and see where he wasn't so patient. Uh, he went into Hagar
and he sure didn't express, express patience at that time, did he?
But yet the new Testament account, and you know, this is the new
Testament account of every believer. It's all good. It's all good. Nothing is brought up about Abraham's
unbelief or impatience like lot. Uh, if you read the old Testament
account of lot, you don't see the new Testament account, a
just man, a righteous man with a righteous soul. Sarah, you
see her laughing when she hears what the Lord says she's going
to, he's going to do for her and doesn't believe. And yet
the new Testament account is says by faith, Sarah received
strength to conceive seed. Now. The new Testament account
is the real account. That's what lasts the old Testament
account. It's not going to be neither
were yours, neither will mine, but the new Testament account
is what is real. And so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise for men, verily swear by the
greater. I know for confirmation is to
them an end of all strife, wherein God willing. More abundantly
to show unto the heirs of the promise, the immutability of
his counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation. who have fled for refuge to lay
hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast and which entereth
into that within the veil, the Holy of Holies into the very
presence of God, whether the forerunner is for
us entered. Even Jesus made an high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek. Now I've entitled this message, Strong Consolation. This is what God the Holy Spirit
calls strong consolation. And wouldn't it be a blessing
if the Lord was pleased to give me and you that strong consolation
that we read of in this passage of scripture. Now, first go back
to Genesis chapter 22. Now, if this was the only passage
we had, we would conclude that Abraham's blessing was dependent
upon Abraham's personal obedience. Uh, look in verse 16 and he said
by myself, have I sworn, say the Lord for, because thou has
done this thing and it's not withheld by son, not only son,
that in blessing, I will bless thee because you've obeyed my
voice because you've not withheld your son in blessing. I will bless thee. Verse 17, that in the blessing
I'll bless thee, and multiplying I'll 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. Now, as I said, if that's the
only passage of scripture we had, we could conclude from that
That Abraham's blessing was dependent upon Abraham's personal obedience. Now that won't stand up to the rest
of the scriptures. I'm thankful. We have the whole
Bible, aren't you? You have to be able to throw the whole Bible
in a passage of Scripture to see if you can understand what
it says. And if this did say that Abraham's
blessing was dependent upon Abraham's personal obedience, I would have
no hope. None at all. Look in chapter 12 of Genesis,
when the Lord first appears to Abraham. And the Lord said unto
Abraham, get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show
thee, and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless
thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing. And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curses thee. And in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed. Now notice there's a period after
that, not an if, not an if. They'll be blessed if you. Look
in chapter 15, verse one. After these things, the word
of the Lord came into Abram in a vision saying, fear not Abram,
I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. He didn't say I
will be if, he said, I am. And my dear friend, he is your
shield. He is your exceeding great reward
if you're one of his. Not he will be if you do this,
or if you do that. He is. And Abram said, Lord God,
what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward
of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? And Abram said, behold,
to me thou hast given no seed, and no one born in my house is
mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord
came unto him, saying, this shall not be thine heir, but he that
shall come forth out of thine own bowel shall be thine heir.
And he brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven
and tell the stars if they'll be able to number them. And he
said unto him, so shall thy seed be. Not so shall thy seed be
if, fill in the blank, so shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord. He believed what God said. And he counted it to him for
righteousness. Now go back to Genesis 22. These
are God's promises. Now let me say this, they wouldn't
have been fulfilled had Abraham refused to obey. There's no question
about that, just like Naaman. If Naaman would have refused
to dip down in the River Jordan seven times, would he have been
healed? No. Was he healed because he dipped
down in the Jordan seven times? No. He was healed because God
healed him. And God purposed for him to do
just that. And Abraham's obedience is the
gift of God's grace. Now I'm not saying that Abraham
would have been saved without his obedience, but he wasn't
saved by his obedience. His obedience came from the grace
of God. You know, when the Lord said to that man with the withered
hand, stretched forth thy hand." He couldn't. He was withered,
but he could when the Lord told him to do it, couldn't he? He
stretched forth his hand. Now, verse 15, and the angel
of the Lord called an Abraham out of heaven the second time
and said, by myself have I sworn. This is the first time God has
said to swear in the Bible. And in the Hebrew word, you find
the Hebrew number seven. Literally, I've sworn seven times. God saying to him, I've sworn
seven times to show how for sure this will take place. First time
God said, I swear. By myself have I sworn, saith
the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, I have not withheld
thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I'll bless thee.
In multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven
and as the sand which is by the seashore. Just like Genesis 15
said he would. And thy seed shall possess the
gate of his enemies. If God be for us, who can be
against us? And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth
be blessed. And Paul calls this in Galatians
3, 8, the gospel. He said, for the scripture saith
before unto Abraham, in thee, this passage of scripture, in
thee, in thy seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. Because thou hast obeyed my voice,
So Abraham returned unto his young men and they rose up and
went together to Beersheba and Abraham dwelt at Beersheba. Now, let's go back to Hebrews
chapter six where this passage of scripture is quoted. And I
pray that the Lord gives me and you this strong consolation. Hebrews chapter six. Verse 13. And the writer of the Hebrews
refers to this, for when God made promise to Abraham, because
he could swear by no greater, there's no greater authority
than God, because he could swear by no
greater. You know, the Bible says, don't swear at all for
me and you, we know that, that said in James and the Lord said
that. in Matthew, let your yea be yea and your nay be nay. But
there was something to swearing on a greater authority. And he
refers to that. And you know, even in the United
States at one time, if you were in a court of law, if you swore
on the Bible, and you put your hands on the Bible and swore
on the Bible, you're swearing by something greater than you
symbolically. Now that is a man-made thing,
I realize that, but there's something to swearing on someone greater
than yourself. And that's what is being said
here. There's nobody he can swear that's greater than him. So he
swore by himself. Now this is how important this
is. He swear by himself saying, surely,
surely, this is for sure. This is not gonna go wrong in
any way. You're not able to mess this
up. It's not what I have said is gonna take place. Surely,
blessing, I will bless thee. And multiplying, I will multiply
thee. I will and you shall. Now that is God's promise. I
will and you shall. Not I will, if you will. I will and you shall, Lord. Say to me, do and I'll do. Give me the grace to enter into
that. Verse 15, and so after that he
had patiently endured the New Testament account, he obtained
the promise for men verily swear by the greater. Like a man putting
his hand on the Bible and swearing on the Bible that he's telling
the truth before a court of law. And that would hold up in court
at one time. I don't suppose it would now, but there was a
time when it did. If a man would swear on the Bible, men say,
I swear to God, I don't suggest doing that, but while they're
saying that, they're saying, I swear by one greater than myself. Or if you've heard people say,
I swear on my mother's grave, or all those things men say,
but they're saying, I'm swearing by a greater authority than myself.
For men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for them is the end
of all strife or all controversy, that's settled, wherein, verse
17, God. Willing, willing, don't miss
that. God's willing to do this for
me and do this for you. And if he does it, it'll be done.
God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promise,
the elect, those he promised to save the sheep, those Christ
died for. We're in God willing more abundantly
to show under the airs of the promise, the immutability of
his counsel. Now that says that God is willing
to show every believer. And if he's willing to do, he's
going to do it. The immutability of his counsel. Now, what is meant by the word
counsel? Ephesians 1 11 says that we're predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. There it is. It has something
to do with predestination. It has something to do with God's
purpose and his counsel is his will in everything he does. Here's how the Word is used in
the New Testament, Acts 2, 23, Him being delivered, speaking
of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the determinate counsel, by the
decree, the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. of
a truth against our child Jesus, whom thou has anointed both Herod
and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and the people of Israel were
gathered together for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined
before to be done. God said, my counsel shall stand. and I will do all my pleasure. Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever He pleased. His counsel is always performed. Our God is in the heavens. He
doeth according to His will in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand or
say unto Him, what doest thou? Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that did He. Now His counsel is His predetermined
will. It must be done. He declares
the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things
that are not yet done, say, my counsel shall stand, and I will
do all my pleasure. Now that gives us some idea of
what the Lord being the wonderful counselor is. That's not him
that you go to a counselor to get good advice, not at all.
He's the wonderful counselor. That means his counsel is always
done. His will is always done. Now notice it says, wherein God
will him more abundantly to show unto the heirs of the promise
the immutability of his counsel. What does immutability mean?
It means it can't change. It's changeless. His counsel
never changes. The Lord is not a man that he
should repent. His counsel never changes. changes. It's never amended. It never
adapts to fit the circumstances. It never responds. It is immutable. Whatever God's purpose was, it
is. There's no amendments. There's
no changing. Now he's showing the errors of
the promise, the immutability of his counsel. I'd like to talk
just for a couple of minutes, if I can, about the immutability
of God. God is immutable. He said, I'm the Lord, I change
not. I change not. Now me and you, how often do
we change? How often does our mood change?
How often does our encouragement change or we become totally discouraged? I mean, as far as our bodies
go, how much have they changed? I suppose that I don't have an
atom or a molecule that was in my body when I was born. Probably
all gone. Just change and decay in all around I see. We're so mutable. So mutable. Not him. He's immutable in his essence,
and when I say that, I know I don't know what I'm talking about,
because somebody says, what's God's essence? I don't know. I know he's spirit. God is spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth, and whatever
his essence is, and nobody can say what his essence is, but
whatever it is, it always was and it always will be. There
is no change. God is immutable in his attributes,
whatever they were, they are, whatever they are, they always
will be. There is no change. He's immutable in his omnipotence.
He's always been all powerful. He is all powerful. He always
will be. That's why His sovereignty, you're the only way you can be
sovereign is if you're omnipotent. Someone says, I'm sovereign.
Oh, yeah, yeah, right. You're no more sovereign than
the devil is. But God is, because He's all-powerful
and He has the power to make His will come to pass. He's immutable
in His wisdom. He's always known everything.
He never learned anything. He's immutable in His eternality. He's always been eternal. He
always will be eternal. Every one of His glorious attributes,
His justice, His mercy, His grace, the objects of His love, His
love, whatever you say with regard to God, He is immutable. He's always been independent.
He is independent. He always will be independent.
You know what that means? That means he doesn't need me.
That means he doesn't need you. He doesn't need anything outside
of himself to supply his needs. And you know what? A God that
needs me, I have no need of. I have no desire for a God that
needs me. He's not much of a God if he needs me. But thank God
he is utterly, completely independent. God is immutable in his purpose.
It's never altered. Why should he? It's perfect.
And he has the power to make sure it comes to pass. He's immutable
in his promises. It's impossible for him to lie.
All the promises of God in him are yay and amen. He's immutable
in his threatenings. He that believeth not shall be
damned. That's not going to change. And
after. Seems like eternity is almost
exhausted. That person in hell will still
see written over their head, shall be damned. He is immutable. And he's immutable, thank God,
in the objects of his love. I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob. Jacob, that's a son of election.
Jacob ever loved. Esau have I hated. Jacob was
a sinful man. He was a swindling man. You couldn't say much about his
character that's positive, but God said, Jacob have I loved. Aren't you thankful for that? Since he is immutable, Did you notice in our text, back
in Hebrews chapter six, where in God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutable ability of his
counsel, confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things.
Now, I have looked at that passage of scripture all my life and
thought, what are the two things that are immutable? And I've
read different things, different men have spoken, but this is
the only thing that makes sense to me. God's immutable and his
word's immutable. Isn't that simple? God is immutable,
therefore his word is immutable. It's immutable, he can't lie.
God that cannot lie, his word is immutable. That by two immutable
things in which it was impossible for God to lie. Now you think
about his word being immutable. Here's something that gives me
strong consolation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. I'm a sinner, he came to save
me. That's immutable. That can't be changed, that can't
be altered. In him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and you are complete. You are, right
now, eternally complete, lacking nothing in him. That's strong
consolation, isn't it? By grace are you saved. That's strong consolation. When
He by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand
of the majesty on us. That's strong consolation. Of
Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That's strong
consolation because of the immutability of God and because of the immutability
of His Word. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak comfortably unto Jerusalem
and say unto her, her warfare's accomplished. You got a battle
going on, it's already over. Her iniquity is pardoned. Those are comforting words. for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sin. Not only is she not condemned,
she justified. She's received of the Lord's
hand double for all her sin. By two immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. Now who has this strong consolation? We who have fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us. Now, we've fled for refuge. You know what that means? That
means we fled to Christ. He is the refuge. And we know
we're in trouble. I love that scripture. The name
of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and
they're safe. We fled for refuge, for safety. We know that if we're not in
Him, we're not going to be saved. And we fled for refuge to simply
be found in Him. That's what Paul meant when he
said, oh, that I'm in Christ and be found in Him. The only
place I find safety is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we lay
hold of this by faith. Paul said, I know whom I believed,
and I'm persuaded he's able to keep that which I've committed
to him against that day. He says, we fled for refuge to
lay hold upon the hope set before us. Who set it before us? God.
And what is that hope? Christ is the hope. You know
that scripture where it says in Romans 8 24, we're saved by
hope? That doesn't mean we're saved by the act of our hope. We're saved by him who is our
hope. He is our hope. And we're saved by hope, which
hope verse 19, which we hope, which hope we have as an anchor
of the soul. Now I love the way Christ is
called an anchor, an anchor. What will happen to a boat? If
it doesn't have an anchor, it'll drift. It'll drift, and it'll
end up running into something. It'll end up in ruin at some
point, every time, if it doesn't have an anchor. It will drift. It will have no control. Now, Christ is called an anchor. What good does an anchor do that
you can see? Doesn't do you any good at all, does it? What good
does an anchor do that's in the boat? There it is. What good's
it doing you? None at all. The only anchor
that's doing you any good is an anchor that you can't see.
Now where is this anchor? Look what it says. Which hope we have is an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, which entereth into that within
the veil. Now, what this is talking about,
you know, is the Holy of Holies. Remember, only the high priest
could go into the Holy of Holies once a year. Now, this anchor
we have, hooked to us, has entered within the veil. Sure and steadfast. He has entered into the veil
in the very presence of God. Now, 1 John 4, verse 17 says,
as he is, so are we in this world. Is he within the veil, in the
very presence of God, utterly accepted, perfectly holy? So are we. If he's there, so
are we. As the anchor of the soul. Verse 20, wither the forerunner. Don't you love the way the Lord
Jesus Christ is called the forerunner? That's the only time this word
is found in the scripture, but he's the forerunner. That means
he ran before me. He, He is my forerunner. When he came into this earth,
he came as my forerunner to keep the law for me. When he died
on Calvary's tree and went to death, he was my forerunner going
to death before me. When he was raised from the dead,
he was raised as my forerunner. And when he ascended back into
heaven, he ascended back into heaven as my forerunner representing
me. He's there now. He is the forerunner of the believer. Notice it says, whether the forerunner
for us is entered, even Jesus made a high priest after the
order of Melchizedek. Now who's the us? Look in chapter
nine, verse 24. For Christ is not entered into the
holy place made with hands, which are the figures of the true,
but into heaven itself. Now, right now, to appear in
the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entered into the holy place every
year with the blood of others, for then must he have often suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now once in the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself, and as it's appointed unto men once to die, but after
that the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the
sins of many, and unto them that look for him. Now here's the
us, them that look for him. Well, I'm looking for him to
return. That's true, but that's not the main meaning. I'm looking
for him to represent me completely before God. I'm looking for him
when my name is called for him to say present and accounted
for. I'm his surety. I'm his savior. I'm not going to say anything.
I'm going to keep my mouth shut and he's going to answer for
me. And the only time my mouth is going to be open when I'm
singing worthy is the lamb that was slain. I'm looking for him. So Christ was once offered to
bear the sins of many and to them that look for him, shall
he appear the second time without sin, without my sin. You know why? It's gone. It's
gone. Now back to our text. One vital
thought. God is showing the heirs of the
promise, the immutability of his counsel, whether the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. Now, the Levitical priests, they were sinful men like you
and I are. Who was it, somebody was reading
a passage of scripture today, or I don't know where this came
into my mind, it was, when you're reading the scripture about the
calf, and I was thinking of Moses coming up to Aaron after they'd
made the golden calf, and he said, why'd you let this happen?
He said, well we, We just threw in the gold earrings and out
came this calf. I mean, he lied right in the
very, that's the typical priest. They're weak men. They're sinful
men. Every single one of them. Now,
what they represented is the glorious savior, but they were
weak men. And you know what else they did?
They died. They died. But what about Melchizedek? Let's
read about Melchizedek. Verse one of chapter seven. for
this Melchizedek, King of Salem, priest of the Most High God,
who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and
blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a 10th part of all, first
being by interpretation King of Righteousness, and after that
also King of Salem, which is King of Peace. Now, you know
who he is? He's the King of Righteousness.
That means his righteousness is my righteousness. And he's
the king of peace. The only peace there is to be
had is the peace that comes from him being your personal righteousness
before God. Now look at this description
of him. He's so unlike the Levitical priests. Without father, without
mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor
end of life. but made like unto the Son of
God, he abideth right now, present tense, a priest continually. Now, I don't have any doubt that
Melchizedek is the Lord Jesus Christ. I heard somebody once
say, well, it says he was made like unto the Son of God. Well,
John also said, I saw one like unto the son of man. He saw the
son of man. And you remember when Nebuchadnezzar
said, I saw one like unto the son of God. He saw the son of
God, didn't he? Melchizedek is the son of God. Now consider how great this man,
notice was, is in the italics. How great this man, unto whom
even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of his foals. You can
go on reading about Melchizedek, it's a glorious He is Christ,
King of Righteousness and King of Peace. Now this forerunner
that we have representing us, not like Aaron or one of the
Levitical high priests that are gonna die, that are sinful, but
the Son of God who is set down at the right hand of the majesty
on high, in the very presence of God, and there's a, and he's
an anchor, and there's a chain connected to him that's connected
to you that cannot be broken. We have an anchor of the soul,
both sure and steadfast, that enters within the veil. What
a promise by him who cannot lie. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for our
anchor. It's in your very presence right
now. And in his person, we're there
with him. And we give thanks for our anchor.
Bless this message for Christ's sake. In his name we pray.