An Unchanging God In An Ever Changing World

 

 

 

^"7 Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. ⁸ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. ⁹ Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. ¹⁰ We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. ¹¹ For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. ¹² Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. ¹³ So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. ¹⁴ For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come." 

Hebrews 13:7-14

 

 

Good Morning my beloved,

Welcome to worship this Lord's Day.
We are so glad to have you here with us today. Know that we continue to pray for all of you every day, throughout the day.

We live in a day and age where Christians seem to minimize the importance of sound doctrine and even speak against it as something that divides us and goes against Christ’s commands to love one another. Many seem to view spiritual matters as preference, rather than truth. Truth was reduced to personal preference. The church has therefore, rejected the authority of Christ. No one seems to want to subject themselves to the confines of the Bible. Allow me to boldly proclaim that if Jesus Christ was the Savior of the Bible, He is the Savior of today!

A Barna survey found that only 23 percent of Christians expressed a strong belief in absolute truth. Among the American public that number jumped to 28 percent! If only one-fourth of Christians hold a strong belief in absolute truth, then avoiding false teaching is not going to be of much concern, is it?. However, the New Testament is filled with warnings against false doctrine. 

 

 In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus Himself warned us, "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?  So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits."

 

Israel rejected Him, because they wanted a physical king to meet their physical needs. America is looking for a Savior in a political person or government institution. The average American seeks for a way to live and survive without having to work. They're looking for some magical method of having their everyday necessities met by a political party or government entity, rather than the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

The Apostle Paul warns us in Acts chapter 20, "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased  with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them."

 

Satan has always infiltrated the church with false teaching that invariably dilutes or digresses from God’s grace in Jesus Christ. If we buy into the modern idea that doctrinal truth is a matter of personal preference, minimizing its importance, then, we join these early Hebrews, in danger of being carried away by varied and strange teaching. And, to deny the vital importance of sound doctrine, makes us prime targets for the attacks of the enemy. 

 

Let us pray.

 

Heavenly Father,

 

Father, we thank You for Your Word, thank You for reminding us of this great truth, these simple concepts to draw us to obedience. Guide us Lord, that we might worship you in spirit and truth. Help us to offer ourselves as sacrifices that are pleasing in your sight. That our faith would not be something that looks good on the surface, but one of deep down praising and worship of You, obedient to Your Word and not just praising with our mouths, but also in deeds and good works. That our behavior would be more than just an outward conformity to rules or rituals, but that we would delight, with a true desire of serving and pleasing You. 

In Jesus' name we ask and pray

Amen

 

Today's Message: An Unchanging God In An Ever Changing World

 

There are many churches today, in an attempt to reach the unsaved, the unchurched, have abandoned teaching through the Bible verse by verse, for fear that some of the difficult doctrines may offensive to some people. They have instead, designed the church service toward giving the "customer" what they want. Primarily, a topical messages on how to have a happy life. How to achieve more blessings, great health and wealth from God. They completely avoid talking about sin, judgment or Hell, basically anything that can be considered to be controversial.  

Hebrews 4:12 tells us that "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

 

Psalm 149:6 says "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, And a two-edged sword in their hand." 

 

Scripture is replete with warning after warning about those who will teach false doctrine. America and the world desperately need to turn back to God. Our world is more subject to change today than any other time in Human history. More information has been produced in the last 50 years than in the previous 500 years.

 

More than fifty percent of the college graduates that are working, doing jobs that didn’t exist when they were born. For the most part, these new places of employment are due to the age of high technology and especially the computer. A large percentage of the businesses in the United States were started in the last 10-20 years. I believe that in the next 3-5 years, technology will go through revolutionary changes. Furthermore, I believe that these new technologies will dramatically change the world.

The rate of change has become so great, that we can hardly get our selves used to the constant upheavals it causes. The results are, we are suffering from a version of constant cultural shock! That’s especially true when it comes to the change in how people inflict pain and suffering on others throughout our world today. We almost need some form of anxiety medication to live in our world today. In fact, most people are.

Malachi 3:6, says "For I, the Lord, do not change." These words were spoken in a time of great change.Worship had become casual, as people gave their second or third best to God. The moral law of God was being disregarded. God’s command to tithe was being ignored, and neither the priest nor the people of Malachi’s day took seriously the threat of the approaching judgment of God. It was in that kind of world, which is much like the world today,  that God still kept His promises He had spoken.

In our world today, everything is rapidly changing, however, God's Word is a fixed point of reference for our decisions, God is an anchor for our soul. He is the secure axis around which our lives can revolve. The reality that man, who is a sinner, is no more of a concern today than he was 2000 years ago.

 

Open your Bibles with me to the book of Hebrews, the thirteenth chapter. The book of Hebrews, was also written in a time of great change. Old structures were crumbling and new ones were emerging. Persecution was intensifying, and to assure God’s people that He would never leave them, God emphasized the fact that Christ, His only Son never changes. And, because God doesn’t change, His Word will never changes.

 

I would like to invite you to follow along with me as I read, to settle the text in our minds, as we prepare our hearts for a Word from our Lord. Hebrews 13:7-14.  

"Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come."

 

As you will remember, in our on going study of this wonderful epistle, we’ve been talking about the principles and the ethics of the Christian Life. We have already discussed the three categories of Christian ethics. The first, in relation to others, He calls for two things: sustained love and sympathy. Second, was in relation to ourselves. There are some very important standards in relation to ourselves. The first one was sexual purity. In verse 4, "Marriage is honorable in all, let the bed be undefiled. Fornicators, adulterers, God will judge."  The second, in relation to ourselves, is satisfaction. In verses 5-6,  we talked about learning to be without covetousness, to be content with such things as you have and know that the Lord is going to help and take care of your needs. 

Now, we come to verse 7, "Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." Look at all of those who came before you and look how they stayed true. Verse 8, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." Look at Jesus Christ, did He change? No! Did the ones that were your spiritual fathers change" No! Did the one who is your spiritual creator change? No! Then verse 9, "Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited." Therefore, don’t you change either! God desires that we be steadfast. Let your life be rooted and founded upon grace.

 

When I was growing up, one of the glories of church was that it didn’t change much. There was something comforting, and stabilizing about coming to church and singing the same hymns that my parents and grandparents sang, like "Amazing Grace" and "The Old Rugged Cross." Today, my faith tells me the Bible is true in all its parts. And so, if God never changes, then neither does our Christian faith. 

 

The word "faith" refers to Christian doctrine without any additions or deletions. The revelation of God is full and complete in the person of Jesus Christ, His Son. That doesn’t mean that our faith doesn’t need to be re-examined, re-expressed, or even re-applied. Every person and every generation needs to do that. Our challenge, however, is always to have a deeper understanding, and clearer expression, as well as a broader application of our faith. In other words, we need to figure out how to stay on the cutting edge without being on the bleeding edge of life, and without compromising the message of Jesus Christ and the Truth of the gospel. 

 

One of Satan’s most subtle tactics is to move Christians away from sound doctrine, to get them wrapped up in some kind of doctrine that happens to be blowing about in the breeze at any given point and time. Christ hasn’t changed. Your forefathers haven’t changed. Don’t you change either. One of the saddest things in all the world is somebody who makes a profession of Christ, who believes in Christ, who possibly even  is truly saved, then  all of a sudden, gets sucked up in the vacuum of some false doctrine and is rendered ineffective, loses his joy, loses his reward, and loses his effectiveness for the kingdom of God.

 

Paul says in Galatians 1:6-9, "I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel. which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!"  Its the same concept. You started out well, but now you’re removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ.

 

I believe that there is no area in our lives where change has been more drastic and more disturbing than the ethics and morals of people. Confusion, inconsistency  and even hypocrisy can be seen nearly everywhere today. All we have to do is point back in recent history to the violence in our nation’s schools and on the streets, to know that is prevalent in many homes in America today.

 

The language that is used in movies and television programs is unspeakable. And many of our daytime and prime time television talk shows have become centered on dysfunctional people, talking to dysfunctional hosts, talking about their miserable, dysfunctional lives. I imagine that the rest of the world laughs at the way Americans behave when they look at American television shows! When a couple walks down the aisle of their church to be married, the odds are that their marriage won’t last seven years. Chances are that one of them will leave the marriage before the warranty on their appliances runs out.

 

I believe that the church must accept part of the responsibility for the moral decline of our society. We, as a church, have become a self seeking church, in a feel good society. Our fear of being labeled intolerant and unwelcoming has helped us as church members to develop a complacent attitude toward sin. In fact, most preachers today, never even use the word "sin" in their sermons because it’s too offensive a word. Look, there is nothing that Satan would like better to silence the church. If America is to have a rebirth of morality, we must call sin what it really is from the pulpit, and preach the Word of God straight from the scriptures.

 

If we are going to find our way out of our moral mess we have gotten ourselves into in this the world, we must find a way to return our families and our homes to God. Right is right because God says so! And since God never changes, neither does right or wrong! If God's Word was right yesterday, then it’s right today! The American culture has failed miserably on learning to take personal responsibility for our actions. We have no fault insurance, no fault divorce and no fault sin. We blame everything on our parents, our heredity, the environment. If something we do is wrong, its someone else's fault, our parents, our church, the computer; and our teachers, our co-workers, our neighbors. We never accept responsibility for anything we do.

 

Galatians 6:7-8 says "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life." In other words, we cannot have a heyday without a payday! We know God will punish the wicked for their sins. We know this because of God’s unchanging character and His unchanging faithfulness. If God spares America, He’s going to have to apologize to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah! And, that's not going to happen! While God may love the sinner, He hates sin. All sin. 

We have removed God from our schools, but are our school any better for it? We now have armed guards and metal detectors at many schools, we have traded shooting spitballs for mass shootings, smoking cigarettes for opioids and exchanging valentines for teenage abortions!   

 

All right, so we see, then, the believer’s behavior in relation to others, sustained love and sympathy. In relation to himself, sexual purity, satisfaction, and steadfastness. Lastly, the believer’s ethics in relation to God. Separation. We see that here in verses 10 to 14. I believe that this is one of the toughest passages in all the book of Hebrews.

Beginning in verse 10, " We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp." What is He talking about here?  Because it says, "We have an altar." So, some say the church must have an altar. But what kind of alter  is that "of which they have no right to eat." We don't eat at the alter. Some have interpreted this to mean that He's talking about communion. I submit how could you have a communion table that you couldn’t eat from?

 

Look at verse 11, "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp." That doesn’t sound like the church to me. In fact, the evidence here is on not eating. Some claim that it refers to a heavenly altar, in  Revelation 6.But that doesn't make sense either, what beasts were ever burned on the altar in heaven?

 

I believe what He is talking about here, is a Christian’s obligation to God is to be separated from the world unto God. He says "We have an alter," He’s not necessarily talking about Christians here, I believe that He’s talking about Jews. Remember, Jews have an altar. And, their altar includes the sacrifice and the ritual  "Of which they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle." 

 

Think about it, do you see it? Once you establish that, everything kind of flows. The priests were the men who served the tabernacle, and  there a certain sacrifice on a certain altar they couldn’t eat. On the Day of Atonement, when the sin offering was made, they could not eat it. All the other times when they made offerings, the priests ate what was left. The sin offering, once it was made and the blood was sprinkled in the holy of holies on the mercy seat, the animals were taken outside the camp and burned.  He's saying we have a particular altar sacrifice, we have a particular ritual, where you cannot partake. In fact, the remains of the sacrifice are taken outside the camp and burned. 

 

 I believe what He’s essentially getting at is, we need to separated from the system. You need to be so separated from the camp of the world. He's giving them an analogy, the believer needs to be removed from sinful men. Removed from the system, removed from the world. Separated unto God. In verse 12, He takes it a step further. "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate." People didn’t want to partake of a sin offering. They didn’t want any part of it. Jesus was separated from the system. If you will remember, in the Old Testament, the Jews took those bodies of those sin offerings, both the priests’ and the peoples’ offering, and they took them outside the camp. They separated themselves from it. Jesus did the same thing, the system didn’t want Jesus. They threw Him out, He suffered outside the gate. Jesus sanctified the people with His own blood.

 

Jesus perfectly fulfilled the picture of the Old Testament. The carcasses were burned outside the camp of Israel, so those old sin offerings were the pictures of Christ. Jesus was killed outside the city, the wall  of Jerusalem. So, when Jesus came, He suffered outside as the offering had been taken outside the camp. And so, He nails down his point in verse 13, " So, let us go out to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach."  Jesus, the true sin offering, was rejected by the system, He was suffering and killed  outside the city. Notice that He's not pushing the analogy too far, because the animal was already killed  before it was taken out; Christ died outside. 

 

The difference was, that Jesus was willing that He might sanctify the people with His own blood. He was despised, He was rejected, He was hated, He was unwanted, betrayed, arrested, mocked, beaten, killed like a common criminal, and He accepted every bit of it to shed His blood on the behalf of men. The Bible says, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Jesus knew that, and so, He willingly shed His blood for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus was a shame to the people and they put Him out. What they didn't know, was that He was the true sin offering. The reproach of Christ greater than the treasures of the system. I believe that is what Christ is saying, "If you’re going to come to me, you’re going to have to come out from the system." 

Many people are confused about biblical separation. Biblical separation is this: You have nothing to do with the system. For clarification, it's I John 2:15, "Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Come outside the world system to Christ. Sure, you might suffer for it, didn't Christ suffer? In John 16:33, Jesus said "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

 

Many Christians today, are in love with the system. Oh, they might not do evil things, but some of them just wish they could. It’s not just what you do, it’s an attitude. The only people who really identify with Jesus Christ are the ones who really are willing to pay the price for it.

In I Corinthians 4, Paul says in sarcasm "We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now."

 

In verse 14, He says " For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come." The Jews boasted in Jerusalem as the center of the earth as far as worshiping God went. The author of Hebrews says, "Oh, but we do have a city! Ours is the same city that Abraham and the patriarchs were seeking, that heavenly city that God prepared for them and us." False teaching puts the emphasis on the present, and makes false claims about heaven. Islam, promises suicide martyrs a better life in heaven, with beautiful virgins to satisfy the man’s lusts. Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons also have false views about heaven. Biblical Christianity clearly offers the peace and joy of knowing God here and now. As well as the hope of the future. We can rejoice that our sins are forgiven and we can enjoy all of the good things that God provides in this life and in eternity.

 

In Closing..

 

Sound doctrine always is founded on the Word of God, it always centers on and exalts the unchanging Christ. It revels in God’s grace, not in any human works for salvation, it feeds on the death of Christ on behalf of our sins. It separates from all that does not exalt Christ and it glories in the reproach of the cross. It puts all its hopes not of this life, but in the rewards of heaven.

 

The only sound doctrine proclaims Jesus as eternal God in human flesh and faith in His sacrifice as the only way of salvation.

 

May it be so..

 

And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;

the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.

Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2019-2021 All Rights Reserved