I'm a little bit afraid of that
cliché because the scripture says the heart is deceitful above
all things. Desperately wicked, who can know
it? But I believe if I know my heart.
I have one object and one goal in life which can be expressed
as a twofold desire. Paul used to say, God is my witness,
I speak the truth, I lie not. I can say reverently, God is
my witness, I speak the truth, I lie not. This twofold desire
is, number one, that I personally, this may sound a little selfish,
but I think if all of us speak honestly tonight, we'd probably
say the same thing, that I may know Christ and the power of
his resurrection that I may win Christ and be found in him. That's
the first part of that desire. I want to know Christ. I don't
want to miss salvation. I certainly don't want to miss
salvation defending a doctrine or a denomination or even a creed. I want to know him. Paul said
that. Some of the old-timers were not as presumptuous as we
are today. I guess they didn't have the
high-pressure Hollywood evangelists to give them assurance. But one
old-timer said, "'Tis a point I long to know. Oft it gives
me anxious thought. Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not?" And was
it Newton who wrote that last verse of that song, How Tedious
and Tasteless the Hours? He said, I tried to remember
it a moment ago and jot it down, he said, Dear Lord, if indeed
I am thine, then why do I languish in pine, and why are my winters
so long? O drive these dark clouds from
my sky, thy soul-cheering presence restore, or take me unto thee
on high where winter and clouds are no more. I don't believe
I could say enough about this to strike a warning note, but
don't take for granted your interest in Christ. It's a dangerous occupation. Our Lord said, many, many will
say unto me in that day, Lord, have we not prophesied in your
name, and in your name cast out devils, and in your name done
many wonderful works? Then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. We're exhorted in the Scripture
to examine ourselves, whether we be in the faith. We're exhorted
every time we come to the Lord's table to examine ourselves. We're
exhorted again to give diligence, diligence to make our own calling
and election sure. So that's my first desire in
this twofold desire with one objective. The second is, and
it's related, and that is that I may be God's instrument to
bring you to know Christ and others wherever God lets me preach.
God uses human instruments. There's no denying this. God
raised up Moses. God raised up Joshua. God raised
up David. God raised up Isaiah. There was
a man sent from God whose name was John. There's a good possibility
if you hear from God today, you'll hear through a preacher. He'll
be a frail human instrument. He'll have this treasure in an
earthen vessel. The sufficiency and power will
not be of him, but will be of God. But God will use his voice.
God uses his word and his spirit But he uses his words spoken
from the lips of a man. And I believe this was Paul's
life. I believe it was his very life. He said in Philippians
3, 8 through 10, O that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but the
righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ Jesus, that
I may know him and the power of his resurrected life. And
then in Romans 10, the other part of that object, And that
goal was this, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for
Israel is that they might be saved. That they might be saved. This was Paul's life. And here
in our text tonight, in Hebrews 13, 8, this is his declaration. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He is my life that I might know
Him. And I want Him to be your life
that you may know Him. Christ is the foundation of all
hope. There's no hope outside of Christ
any more than there was any hope outside of the Ark, or the Tabernacle,
or the Atonement. The Scripture says Christ in
you, that is the hope of glory. The hope of glory is not in a
profession, it's in a person. The hope of glory is not in a
religion, it's in a Redeemer. It's not in a plan, it's in Christ
Jesus. He is the foundation of hope. And Christ Jesus is the
bond that unites believers. He said, love one another as
I loved you. He's our example, not only our
Redeemer, but our example. And Jesus Christ is the way to
God. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. I'm not a way, I am the way. No man cometh to the Father but
by me, and he's the subject of our preaching. Paul said we preach
Christ crucified. Now Paul was a tolerant man.
On one occasion he had a young man circumcised so he wouldn't
offend the Jews. On another occasion, he went
to the synagogue, went through various ceremonies that he might
get the ear of those people. He said, I've become all things
to all men, that by all means I might reach some. The Apostle Paul was a tolerant
man. He said, if eating meat offends my brother, I won't eat
meat. He said, there are those who keep a day unto the Lord.
There are those who don't keep the day. There are those with
law or without law. Not that they were lawless, but
they were without the ceremonial. part of the law that they'd been
keeping for 50 years. But he said, it's those under
the law and it's those without law. I preached to both of them.
But there was one area where Paul would not compromise and
he would not tolerate any, even the slightest, diversion. He
said, though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel,
then that gospel of Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Paul never
pronounced a curse upon the Jews. He never pronounced a curse upon
the Gentiles. He never pronounced a curse upon
those who celebrated a day or those who didn't, those who ate
meat or those who didn't, those who were circumcised or those
who weren't. But he sure pronounced a curse on those who compromised
the gospel. Let him be a curse. Is that serious
to you? Christ is the gospel. And I would say this, the Apostle
always brings us to Christ, regardless of the subject, regardless of
the theme, we're going to see that in a moment, always comes
back to Christ. I would say if you're here tonight, we always
have several preachers in the congregation, but I would say
if you're inclined to legalism, if you're slightly inclined to
legalism, on your way to Sinai, stop at Calvary and just camp
there. And if you ever get a vision
of what happened to Calvary, you'll never make it to Sinai,
if you're just camping. You'll never make it. Your way
will be diverted by the way of the cross. I would say if you
are slightly inclined to ceremonialism, if you like the beauty of ceremony
and pageantry, in religion. If you're inclined in that direction
on your way to Jerusalem, stop at Calvary. And I'm persuaded
if you ever get an understanding of what happened at Calvary,
you'll never make it to the ceremony. You'll never make it. Maybe you're
inclined to be being a prophetic type person or a futurist. You
want to talk about Armageddon. You want to talk about the tribulation. You want to
talk about the millennium. You want to talk about what's
going to be. Well, let me advise you. On your way to Armageddon,
stop at Calvary and pitch your tent for a little while. I wager
you'll never make it to Armageddon. I believe you'll become so enamored,
so taken up with him who died on that cross and what he accomplished
and what he fulfilled that you'll lose all interest, Bill, in Armageddon.
and what's going to be. You'll be so thrilled over what
already is that you'll just leave it in his hands what's going
to be. It's like three preachers talking. One of them said, I'm
a pre-millionarian. The other one said, I'm a post-millionarian.
The other one says, I'm an a-millionarian. The fellow was listening to them
and they said, what are you? He said, I'm a pan-millionarian.
They said, we never heard of it. He said, well, it means it's
all going to pan out all right. That's what I am. I would say
if you're inclined to being a baptizer, on your way to Jordan, stop at
Calvary and baptism will take its rightful place. It's not
justification, it's identification. Baptism is not sacramental. It's not a sacrament. It's a
symbol. That's what baptism is. And on
your way to Jordan, if you'll just stop at Calvary and camp
there a little while, You'll never make it to the river. You'll
be like the Apostle Paul who said, I thank God I didn't baptize
any of them. Maybe Crispus and Gaius, he said,
the household of statelyness, but other than that. Because
I don't want men to believe or even to get the idea that baptism
is a part of justification. Christ is our justifier. And
baptism is symbolic. Baptism is identification. Baptism
is a declaration. Baptism is a confession. Baptism
is a public confession of what Christ did for us in being slain
and buried and coming forth from the tomb and our death to the
old life and burial and resurrection to walk with Him in newness of
life. Christ died for our sins. It's
a joy to hear those people in Mexico sing, years I spent in
vanity and pride. Caring not my Lord was crucified,
knowing not it was for me He died on Calvary. I hear the tune. I don't know anything about the
words that they're saying, but I know the words of that song.
By God's Word at last my sin I learned, then I trembled at
the law I'd spurned, till my guilty soul imploring turned
to Calvary. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan! Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man! Oh, the mighty guff that God
did span! at Calvary. That's the mountain. That's the place to be. That's
where it's accomplished. That's where it's learned. That's
where it's appreciated. That's where God redeems sinners. Great is Mount Sinai. I'm not
taking away from Sinai's greatness. Sinai robed in its smoke and
lightning and covered with clouds and with the glory of God. There
God gave the law to Israel. It's a great mountain. And great
is Mount Horeb. That's where Moses was walking
one day and saw the bush that burned and was not consumed.
And the voice of God said, take off your shoes, you're on holy
ground. And that it was. And he took off his shoes and
there he talked with God. And God revealed to him his person,
his name, his glory. Great is Mount Pisgah. We sing
that in sweet our prayer. And from Mount Pisgah's lofty
heights I view my home and take my flight. What happened on Mount
Pisgah? Moses went to be with the Lord. The prophet Moses went
to the top of that mountain, and God took him home. Great
is Mount Carmel. There, that's the scene of Elijah's
triumph over the prophets of Baal. There's where the fire
of God fell in answer to a little 63-word prayer from a prophet
of his. Great is Mount Moriah, where Abraham, after seven or
eight severe trials, faced his severest trial, the giving of
his son. There God taught Abraham the
gospel of substitution. There Abraham saw the Lord and
rejoiced to see his day. All of those are great places
and scenes and accomplishments, but my friend, Calvary. Calvary. I've been to Calvary. I can say I've seen the Lord.
I've been to Calvary through the witness of His Word. Each
day at Calvary, through the witness of his word, just to think that
the Savior is mine. Up Calvary's hill one day the
Savior trod. I saw him hanging there, the
Son of God. With tear-dimmed eyes I knelt
and prayed, Savior, hear my plea. O praise the Lord, I'm glad I've
been to Calvary." That's where God, Calvary, is where God, who
had power to destroy every enemy with a word, permitted his enemies
to nail him to a tree. Calvary, where God, who delights
to show mercy, withheld all mercy from his beloved son and poured
out his wrath upon his only begotten. Calvary, that's where God, who
closed the limit, permitted his son to hang in shame and nakedness
before the gaze of a cruel crowd. Calvary, where God, who feeds
the raven, And the sparrow, and not one falls to the ground without
the Heavenly Father, answered not the agonizing cry of his
own son when he said, I thirst, I thirst. Calvary. That's where
God, who never leaves us alone, who says, I'm with you always,
even to the end of the earth, deserted his only begotten. And
he cried in that lonely hour, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? He walked the winepress of God's
wrath alone, more alone than any man ever had been or ever
will be. One of the hymn writers wrote
this hymn, I think it's an outstanding hymn, about our Lord's suffering
on Calvary's tree. He said, His holy fingers formed
the bough where grew the thorns that crowned his brow. The nails
that pierced his hands were mined in secret places he designed.
He made the forest whence there sprung the tree on which his
body hung. He died upon a cross of wood
and yet he made the hill on which it stood. The sun that hid from
him its face by his own hand was hung in space. The sky which
darkened over his head by him above the earth was spread. The
spear that shed his precious blood was tempered in the fires
of God. And the grave in which his form
was laid was hewn in rocks, his own hand made. Calvary. Paul never wearied of taking
people to Calvary. He said, I'm determined to know
nothing among you. I go to Corinth, where they love
philosophy, where they love debate and dispute. where they sit around
on their heels, call Mars or some other hill, and argue about
things as they think and debate. He said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ. It's the power of God unto salvation.
I am determined, even in Corinth, to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ, in Him crucified. One great old preacher of years
ago said to a preacher's class at the seminary, young men, when
you think you've run out of something to preach, brag on Jesus. Brag on Jesus. This is why in
chapter 13 of Hebrews, look at it for a moment. Right in the
middle of an exhortation to godliness and obedience, Paul had completed
his doctrinal part of the epistle. He closes with an exhortation
to godliness and obedience and righteousness. And right in the
middle of it, he breaks out with praise to the attributes of his
master. Look at verse 1, let brotherly
love continue. Or that the church might be a
united, happy family of believers who love each other. Who daily
look at 1 Corinthians 13, love beareth all things, believeth
all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Love is
not selfish, it's not covetous, it's not greedy, it's not unkind.
Love forgives and shows mercy, and love never fails. Whether
they be prophecy, they shall fail. Whether they be gifts,
they shall pass away. Now about is faith, hope, and
love. The greatest of these is love. Men only learn to love
at Calvary. Only at Calvary. He exhorts them
to brotherly love. And then secondly, in verse 2,
he exhorts them to hospitality. Love always must show itself.
Love must show it. Love is a principle of the heart
that delights and looks for opportunity to bestow the best that it can
on the object of its affection. If you love somebody, you're
going to communicate with them. If you love somebody, you're
going to pray for them. If you love somebody, you're going to make
contact with them. If you love someone, you're going to give,
give, give. If you have nothing physical,
nothing material to give, you just give of your heart. But
love always reaches out. It must. It must be evidenced
by act. My little children, let us not
love in word only but in deed and truth. No man can ever convince
me that he loves people who does not reach out to people. I do
not believe it. I simply do not believe it. I
know God doesn't believe it. And God knows the heart. Be not
forgetful to entertain strangers For thereby some have entertained
angels unaware." Hospitality. Verse 3, remember them that are
in barns. Sympathize with those in trial
as if you were bound with them. Enter into the other people's
trials. The scripture says weep with those that weep. Weep with
those that weep. When another person is in sorrow,
you're in sorrow. When they're troubled, you're
troubled. When they rejoice, you rejoice, as bound with them.
And them which suffer adversity, remember yourselves are in the
body." And he exhorts us to build our homes and our marriages.
I've often said, and I repeat it, two believers married to
one another have absolutely no cause or grounds or justification
for divorce. They do not have any ground.
Oh, I know people run to the scripture, this, that, and the
other. But believers don't. They're one in Christ. And their
objective, first of all, is to glorify God. Their objective
is to avoid other appearance of evil. Their objective is to
keep the church family together and happy. Their objective is
to be a good witness for Jesus Christ. Their objective is to
fulfill covenant vows and promises which they make, till death do
us part. God will not permit it and God
will not bless it. Now I know this and I continually
warn our young people, don't become, don't become one with
an unbeliever. Now here's the problem, you're
headed for trouble no matter what you do. I don't care what
other things you have in common. Now I want to explain this to
you. I'm not talking about nominal religionists. If you're a nominal
religionist, one of these people who can say to the woman you're
going to marry or to the man you're going to marry, well,
you go to your church and I'll go to mine. We're all going to the
same place. Probably you're right. But if that's your religion,
go ahead and marry anybody you want to. Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian,
whatever. It doesn't matter. Seven-day
Adventist if you want to. You can give up both your weekend
dates. But it won't really matter. But now, if you're a believer,
and you know Christ, And I believe I know Christ. And I believe
some of you do. Christ is my Lord, my life. He
comes before my wife. He comes before my children.
He comes before anything. Supposed to. And He will if you
know Him. He's King, Lord, Master, Sovereign. Now then, suppose
this man who is married to a woman and Christ is his Lord, Christ
is his love and his life. She's not that. She doesn't believe
that. She doesn't feel that way. There's somebody coming between
her and her husband. You see what I'm talking about?
Alienation of affection. And an unbelieving woman ain't
going to put up with it. She's not going to put up with
her husband being in love with Christ more than he loves her.
And vice versa. Man's not going to put up with
it. You see, here she is in love with someone else. But now if
he's in love with the same person, you see, if Christ is first with
him and his Lord, and she, Christ is first with her, then she doesn't
mind sharing him with Christ. She wants him to love Christ
first. She wants him to worship God. That's so. As I said, this nominal
religion, something like that, you've got no problem. You're
not going to battle over someone that's not important to you.
But I'll tell you this, when Jesus Christ the Lord, who has
preeminence in the life, preeminence in the home, preeminence in the
soul, He comes in and dwells. If a person's on the outside,
they're not going to stay there long. They're going to move on. But He says marriage is honorable,
bed is undefiled. That relationship between a husband
and wife in the sight of God is beautiful, wholesome, necessary
and needed. But whoremongers, those who pursue
prostitutes and those who break up marriages, God will judge
you. God will judge you. All right, he says, let your
conversation be without covetousness. Be content. Be content with what
you have. We've got to avoid murmuring
and finding fault with God's good providence. Be content. You know, covetousness, the Scripture
says, is idolatry. It's worshiping another god.
A false god and idol. Be content with what... Paul
said, I had to learn this. A man's not naturally content. It has to be learned. Paul said,
I've learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Another verse of that hymn, if
I can think of it, content with beholding his face, my all to
his pleasure resigned. No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind." And he went on to say this, that
if Christ dwelt with him, a palace, a toy, would appear. And prisons
would palace his proof if Christ dwelt with me there. One of the
old writers used to write his letters. He was in prison at
Aberdeen, somewhere in England, awaiting execution for faith. And he used to write at the top
of the letterhead up here, from the Lord's palace in Aberdeen. That prison was a palace because
Christ was there. Be content with what you have.
I'm not saying be slothful. I'm not saying neglect your guilt.
I'm not saying be lazy. I'm not saying that men aren't
supposed to work. The scripture says if they don't
work, don't let them eat. If a man won't work, if a man won't
earn bread for his family, God said don't let him eat. But I'm
saying that we're to be content. We don't have to have everything
that these eyes desire. We don't have to have everything
that this flesh wants. Be content with what you have.
He said to you, verse 5, I won't leave you, I won't forsake you,
so I can boldly say, because he said this, I can say this,
the Lord's my helper. I'm not going to be afraid of
tomorrow. I'm not going to be afraid of what men will do. God
is my helper. And then he exhorts us to care
and submission to faithful pastors. There aren't a whole lot of these,
but there are some. Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God. We
are not to submit to any man who doesn't preach the word of
God. I don't care what office he holds in the church. It doesn't matter. I don't care
how long his robes are, how high his miter. If he does not declare
the word of God, you avoid him, and don't be a partaker of his
evil deeds. But if a man faithfully declares
unto you the word of God, who has faith in Christ, then follow
his faith, and obey him, and listen to him, and submit yourselves
to his message. He watches for your soul, verse
17 says, as one who must give an account. I wonder what we'd preach. I
believe I can confidently say I'd preach exactly what I'm preaching
tonight if I knew this were my last message. Because every message
I preach, I examine it by a threefold rule. Does it tell about the
ruin of the fall, the redemption of Christ, and the regenerating
work of the Holy Spirit? I preach Christ. I never preach
a message without Christ. I never preach a message. I make
it a rule never to preach a message that does not glorify Jesus Christ
and set forth His redemptive work. It shouldn't be preached.
If Christ is not the theme of the message and the subject of
the message, then put it away and get out one that is. I preach
as one who may never preach again. I preach as a dying man to dying
men. And I preach this. Christ and
Him crucified. And Paul says, you remember them
that faithfully declare unto you the Word of God. In verse
9, he says, don't be carried away with different strange doctrines.
If a new fellow comes in town, just let him sit out there a
little while and look at him, listen to him. And give him the
trial of time. That's the best thing I know.
Give him a trial of time and wait and see where he goes from
here. We're exhorted in the scripture
not to ordain a novice, not to follow a novice. Avoid these
different strange doctrines. Let your heart be established
and settled permanently in free grace. Just sit right there. Just camp right there in free
grace. Don't be troubled about meat.
Somebody comes along and says, don't eat this, don't eat that,
don't eat the other. Just tell them that goes in the
mouth and into the belly and out the draft. What defiles us
is what comes out of the heart. I'm concerned with a relationship
with Christ. I'm not concerned with touch
not, taste not, handle not, holy days, special days, Sabbath days,
or any other day. Every day is God's day. Everything
God has made for His children's enjoyment to be received with
thanksgiving and blessed with thanksgiving and prayer. There's
no evil in anything. There's no evil in a bottle.
Evil's in the heart. That's right. There's no evil in a box, it's
in the heart. There is no evil in a plant,
I beg your pardon. There's no evil in drugs, I beg
your pardon. It's man in whom the evil dwells
who perverts and twists and misuses that which God made. I know we're
out here trying to prune the trees and we're leaving the rotten
root in the ground. We're out here with mops trying
to mop up the mess and we got the faucets running full blast.
We're trying to change man's environment and move him out
of the slums and he makes a slum out of where we move him to because
he takes the slum with him. Strange doctrines. Different
and strange doctrines. And right in the middle of all
of this, in verse 8, he goes on more and more, and I don't
have the time tonight, but here in the middle of verse 8, he
just stops, pauses in this exhortation to godliness, holiness, right
thinking, and he says, Jesus Christ is the Savior. He is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. The foundation of hope, the motivation
of Christian principle, the bond that unites believers, the subject
of every sermon, the only way to God, Jesus Christ the same. Let me just briefly give you
three things about this verse 8. He starts out with his name. He says Jesus Christ. Where did
he get the name Jesus? Where did he get the name Jesus?
Well, first, this is the Lord's Hebrew name, Joshua. Right, Cecil? Joshua. And it means, it signifies,
Jehovah, my Savior. The word Jesus is the Old Testament
word Joshua. Now, Joshua took the children
of Israel into the Promised Land. You remember Moses brought them
out of Egypt, led them out as God directed them, and brought
them to the through the wilderness of wandering and so forth, but
Moses could not lead them across Jordan into rest because Moses
represents the law. And whatever Moses did to bring
God's judgment upon him was all in God's good providence because
Moses could not take the people into rest as the law cannot take
you into rest. Joshua, and that Old Testament
word is the same word we have Jesus in the New. It means Savior. And Joshua led them across. Now
it was given to Christ. Turn to Matthew 1. This name
Joshua, Hebrew word Joshua, this name Jesus, was given him by
the Father through the angel. In Matthew chapter 1 verse 21
it says, And she shall bring forth a son. Matthew 1 21. And
thou shalt call his name Joshua, Jesus. Which means if you've
got a center reference in your Bible, it's got the word there,
Savior. For he shall save his people
from their sins. He is their ultimate, effectual,
sufficient Savior. He's not going to make an effort
to save them, nor down payment on their salvation. He'll save
them. He is a Savior. Now all this was done that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet
Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth
a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel, which is interpreted
God with us. Verse 25, And Joseph knew not
Mary, till she had brought forth her firstborn son, and called
his name Jesus. At the very thought of his birth,
the virgin sang, My soul hath rejoiced in God my Savior. Jesus, my Savior. It was the
name by which he was known to his enemies. They said, is not
this Jesus, the carpenter, whose mother we know, whose brothers
and sisters? And yet it was named, known to
his friends, for blind Bartimaeus cried, Jesus, Jesus, my son of
David, have mercy on me. When he died on the cross, they
wrote over his head, Jesus. of Nazareth, the king of the
Jews. When he arose from the grave and stood on the mountain
to ascend to heaven, as the clouds received him out of their sight,
the angel said, This same Jesus, this same Jesus, this same Savior,
This same Savior which is taken up from you into heaven shall
so come in like manner as you have seen Him go. Precious is
the name of Jesus who can have its worth unfold far beyond angelic
praises, sweetly sung to harps of gold. Precious when to Calvary
groaning, He sustained the cursed tree. Precious through His death
atoning, He made an end of sin for me. But it says here in Hebrews,
13, 8, is Jesus Christ. Christ. This word Christ is a Greek name,
meaning anointed. It's Christos. Jesus Christos. Anointed. Hebrew Joshua Christos. Christ. Greek. In Christ is neither
Jew nor Greek. There's one in Him. There's neither
Jew nor Gentile. There's neither male nor female,
black nor white. All are in Jesus Christ who is
the anointed Savior. Christ the anointed. He's called
the Christ. He's called the very Christ.
He's called the Lord's Christ. He's called both Lord and Christ.
He's called the Christ of God. He's called the Lord's anointed.
Let me give you just briefly something here. The special servants of God were
anointed with oil. They anointed the king. They
anointed the priest, they anointed the prophet. And Jesus Christ
is anointed, Christ anointed in all those offices. Now David
was a king. Isaiah was a prophet. Aaron was
a priest. No man ever held those three
offices. David was not a priest. In fact, Saul was a king and
he offered a sacrifice and God smote him for it. It's not your
business to offer sacrifices. That's what God said, you're
king. Those offices were never held but by one person, the prophet,
the priest, and the king, the Lord Jesus Christ, anointed prophet,
priest, and king. And he has a divine right to
those offices. Listen to God. As far as his
office as prophet, God said to the disciples, this is my son. God spoke from heaven so seldom. And on two of those occasions,
he said, this is my son. Hear him. And then priest, scripture says,
no man taketh this office upon himself, but he to whom it is
given. And he said, thou art a priest after the order of Melchizedek. Having no mother or father, no
beginning or ending of days, thy priesthood, my son, is forever. King, God says, I have set my
holy king on the hill of Zion. Thy throne, O God, he said to
the son, is forever. He not only is, or anointed to
those offices, has a divine right to those offices, but he has
the qualification for those offices. He said, as prophet, I testify
what I've seen. As priest, our Lord Jesus Christ
with one offering perfected forever them that are sanctified. Every
priest, there were many of them, standing daily, never finishing
the task, always offering the same sacrifices, which can never
take away sin. But this man, after he'd offered
one sacrifice for sin, forever sat down. He has the qualification. And King, all authority is given
unto me in heaven and earth. All authority. How can this man
be my Savior? How can this man be all this
to me? Because God anointed him. The Spanish, the Mayans in Mexico
say, Charlie, Jesu Christos. Jesu Christos. Savior anointed. Savior anointed. Look at the
next word. Here's his attribute. Jesus Christ
the same. Now let me work on this a moment. I've got some help here. Our
Lord has not always been the same as to condition. Now understand
what I'm saying. No sir, as to condition. He was
once adored by angels. He said, glorify me with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was. And then he was
spit upon by men. So his condition is not the same.
He was once adored by angels and heavenly creatures. I see
him hanging on a cross, despised and rejected of men. That's not
the same condition. Our Lord Jesus Christ one time
was robed in the royal robes of glory. He came down here and
was robed in human flesh. That's not the same condition. He's not been the same as to
occupation. He came one time, Joe Terrell
told us last night, as a lamb to redeem sinners. He's coming
back as a lion to devour his enemies. His occupation ain't
going to be the same. He came to redeem, and he finished
what he came to do. He redeemed us. He's coming back
to judge. He sat one day on a throne of
grace, inviting all to come. He will sit one day at the end
of this world on a throne of judgment, and there will be no
leniency. There will be no mercy. So he's
not the same as the condition, he's not the same as occupation.
So why don't we read it this way, suggested by the principle
preacher Spurgeon. Jesus Christ himself, yesterday,
today, and forever. Himself. He's always himself. Whether he's sitting on the throne
of grace or whether he's hanging on a cross, a cruel cross of
sacrifice, he's himself. He's himself. Jesus Christ is
always who he is, and watch this, he is always to his people what
he is now, and what he always has been. This is what he's saying
here, Jesus Christ himself, our everlasting surety of a better
covenant. Our representative, our substitute, our sacrifice,
our sin offering, our mediator and high priest. He is what he
is and who he is to his Father and to his people, whatever role
he assumes. Always the same, himself. He's the same person. He's the
same person. He's the same person. Having
loved his own, he loved them to the end. He always loves them. Being their surety, shepherd,
substitute, savior, intercessor, he is himself. And then last of all, his eternality.
It says Jesus Christ himself. And he is always the same. In
reference to his own, to redemptive work. And to his father. He is the same yesterday. He
is the same today. He is the same forever. Himself.
And my friends, three things I close. If he is eternally the
same, which he is, then he should be received, he should be worshipped,
and he should be followed. If he is eternally the same,
and he is, then he is worthy of our adoration, praise, and
worship. If he is the same as he is himself,
God who created all things by the word of his power. God who
put the sun in space and the moon in place and the stars out
there and created this world. He who created the eye, can he
not give it seeing power? The ear, can he not make it to
hear the voice of God speaking through his word? Then he's to
be believed and received as our Lord and our Savior. Jesus Christ
The same yesterday, today, and forever. Lonnie, come and lead
us in a closing hymn.