Dan Gatlin - October 1, 2019 pm - Gospel Meeting MP3 PP
Things That Don't Change
Intro.—The nature of life is
that "everything changes."
Almost nothing remains consistent & unchanging throughout our lives.
A. "In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of
adversity consider: Surely God has
appointed the one as well as the other,
So that man can find out nothing that will come
after him." -
Eccl. 7:14
1. There are good times & bad
in all areas: finances, health, stress, family-life, work, etc.
2. Eccl. 3:1-10 points out
that life is composed of all kinds of experiences.
3. People are born, then die.
We rejoice, then sorrow.
B. Think about how life is
composed: 1) As a child under parents: play, school, friends; 2) Looking
for a mate, planning for a future career; 3) Get married, raise a
family; 4) "Empty Nest,"
grandchildren, maybe travel,
retirement; 5) Preparing for death.
C. Within all of that, you may
move, change jobs, see your parents pass, etc.
D. Then too, there are societal changes.
1. Vet, "This is NOT
the country I fought for in World War 2!"
2.
Ethics &
morals have changed—and not for the
better. We are "Slouching
Toward Gomorrah" (Robert Bork).
3.
Politics have changed.
Who would have dreamed 20 yrs. ago that we would have socialists
in
high office?
Running for President?
Unimaginable!
4.
Technology is constantly changing:
computers, phones, cars, etc. — Hard to keep up!
5. Even in
religion, popular
trends come & go.
E. There is ONE REALM where
things do not change. That
is, the spiritual realm.
I. God Does Not Change
A. What the Bible says.
1. "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons
of Jacob."
-
Mal. 3:6
2. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." -
Heb. 13:8
3. "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from
the Father
of lights, with whom there is
no variation or
shadow of turning." -
Jms. 1:17
4. Both Father (Ps. 18:2) &
Son (1 Cor. 10:4) are referred to as "Rocks," something that us
unchanging.
B. God is Sovereign
1. Sovereign means "having supreme
rank, power, or authority" (Dictionary.com).
a. God's control is not
subject to the will or desires of man.
(1) He doesn't need man's
permission.
(2) It's not God's desire to please us; it's ours to please Him.
b. This is not popular in an
age where man tries to shape God in his image (creating our own
version of God).
c. Sovereignty does NOT mean
that God controls absolutely everything—Calvinism.
d. Rather, it is the power to
control whatever He chooses.
2. God exercises control on a
national basis.
a. Jeremiah at the potter's
house: "7 The instant I speak
concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down,
and to destroy it, 8 if that nation
against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the
disaster that I
thought to bring upon it. 9 And the instant I speak concerning a nation
and
concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, 10 if it does evil in My
sight so that it
does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which
I said I
would benefit it." -
Jer. 18:7-10
(cf. Acts 17:26)
3. His sovereignty is shown
through His providence.
a. Providence is the ability
to provide for whatever He chooses.
Today this is
non-miraculous.
b. Ex. Jesus promised that
those who "hunger & thirst after righteousness" will be filled (Matt.
5:6).
This is accomplished through the church, which Jesus established.
4. God's sovereignty will be
shown on the judgment. Those
who deny Him now, will "bow" to Him
then (Rom. 14:11).
C. God is Righteous.
1. Righteous means "innocent,
holy, just" (Strong).
a. God nature is righteous, He
cannot sin, He cannot be tempted.
2. God sets the standard, and
man is to take on "the divine nature" (2 Pet. 1:4-8).
a. "But in every nation whoever fears Him and works
righteousness is accepted by Him."
-
Acts 10:35
3. God's righteousness is
connected to divine justice.
a. "20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be
justified in His sight, for by the
law is the knowledge of sin. 21 But now the righteousness of God apart
from the law
is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the
righteousness
of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For
there is no
difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24
being justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25
whom God set
forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His
righteousness,
because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were
previously
committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that
He might be
just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where is
boasting then? It is
excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore
we
conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law."-Rom. 3:20-28
b. God's nature requires
justice, but He desires to be merciful toward man.
c. V. 26
Justice is connected to His wrath.
Jesus became our sin sacrifice.
Through faith in
Him, we can receive mercy.
II. God’s Law Will Not Change.
A. In the history of man, God
has changed His law a few times.
1. Initially,
patriarchal law existed. "13 For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not
imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to
Moses,
even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the
transgression of
Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come." -
Rom. 5:13-14
2. The
law of Moses was given to
Israel (only), Ex. 31:12-18.
3. The
law of Christ supersedes all
other divine laws. "And Jesus came and spoke to them,
saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.'" -
Matt. 28:18
(cf. Eph. 1:20-23)
B. The N.T. tells us there
will be
no other laws coming from God.
1. "Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written
for our
admonition, upon whom
the ends of the ages have come." -
1 Cor. 10:11
2. "He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world;
but now,
once at the
end of the ages, He has appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself." -
Heb. 9:26
3. In the law of Christ we
have the forgiveness of sins through the Perfect sacrifice.
What could
possibly be better than that?
a. The Koran, the book of
Mormon, the Gnostic gospels all seek to overshadow the law of
Christ.
b. We will be judged by
Christ's law (Jn. 12:48). "And I saw the dead, small and great,
standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened,
which
is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by
the things
which were written in the books." -
Rev. 20:12
III. God’s Word Does Not
Change
A. This is similar to the
previous point, but larger in scope.
1. We're under N.T. law.
But the entirety of God's word is set—unchangeable.
2. "24 because "All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower
of the grass.
The grass withers, And its flower falls away, 25 But the word of the LORD
endures
forever." Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you."-
1 Pet. 1:24-25
3. Peter quotes from Isa.
40:8, showing that the O.T. is included.
4. "Forever, O LORD, Your word is settled in heaven." - Ps. 119:89
B. The implication of this is that there's a lot we can learn from
the O.T.
1. After writing about many of
Israel's failures, "6 Now these things became our examples, to
the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
. . . 11 Now all
these things happened to them
as
examples, and they were written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the ages have come." -
1 Cor. 10:6, 11
2. "For whatever things were written before were written for our learning,
that we through
the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope." -
Rom. 15:4
C. Why do we need the entire
Bible (O.T. included)?
1. It's not possible to
understand much of the N.T. w/o the Old.
a. We can't understand Hebrews
w/o Leviticus.
b. We can't understand Romans
w/o a general knowledge of the O.T.
c. Matthew emphasizes Jesus as
fulfilling O.T. prophecies.
2. There are many O.T.
prophecies about the church.
3. What preachers doesn't have
"Christ In The O.T." in his file?
IV. God’s Promises Do Not
Change
A.
The promise to Abraham—which concerns us.
"I will bless those who bless you, And I will
curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall
be blessed." -
Gen. 12:3
1. Salvation would be
available to all.
2. That God would send a
Savior through Abraham. "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the
promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one,
'And to
your Seed,' who is Christ." -
Gal. 3:16
B. That
there will be a Day of Judgment.
1. "30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all
men
everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will
judge the
world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given
assurance of
this to all by raising Him from the dead." -
Acts 17:30-31
2. We can't stop the judgment.
All we can do is prepare for it.
C. That
the faithful will be saved.
1. "And this is the promise that He has promised us — eternal life." -
1 Jn. 2:25
2. "2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have
told you. I
go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come
again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." -
Jn. 14:2-3
V. Heaven Will Not Change.
A. "3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who according to His
abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and
that does not
fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God
through faith
for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." -
1 Pet. 1:3-5
B. "And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the
righteous into eternal life." -
Matt. 25:46
C. "But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles,
or causes an abomination or a
lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life." -
Rev. 21:27
Con.— In the world, everything
changes. The only
certainties lie with God.
A. Do you trust in God?
Do you have the hope of heaven?
Have you obeyed Him?