Mackennal, D. D.)The immutability of GodH. II. Disappointment cannot quench your hopefulness, for He is the unchanging Hope. Sep 17, 1989. Martin. To-day, brethren, Jesus Christ is the same as when Peter and Johu rejoiced "that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name" — not counted worthy to wear some crown for His name, unless the crown be a crown of thorns, but " that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name." R is indeed He. You need not fear temptation, for His is an unchanging succour. Nor is there any change in the essential purposes of God's moral government. (17), Category: Sermon StructureTags: Hebrews, Hebrews 13, Letters, Home | Admissions | Academics | Campus Life | Alumni, All content copyright © 2021 Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary He has said that they shall never hunger and shall never thirst, they shall never die, they shall do great works, they shall not abide in darkness, they shall have peace, they shall join Christ in His glory. the time comes when the actor must leave the public stage; when the reins drop from the leader's grasp; and the orator's tongue falters; and the workman's stout arm grows feeble; and the fire of wit is quenched; and the man of genius turns into a drivelling idiot; and men of understanding, without any second birth, pass into a second childhood. He has got other things to occupy his thoughts since you and he were wont to meet." Difficulties will not daunt you, for He is the unchanging Helper. Is it not because we are created to find rest and portion only in God? There was no inculcated duty in which they did not lead by practice as well as by precept. II. "Yes; but you would not know him, he is so greatly altered." Blessed are they who, in a world of passing phenomena, penetrate to the still centre of rest, and looking over all the vacillations of the things that can be shaken, can turn to the Christ and say, Thou who movest all things art Thyself unmoved; Thou who changest all things, Thyself changest not. No note of sadness in their song; no drop of bitterness in their cup. And you to whom all your life long He has "stretched out His hands"; you who have still rejected Him, you to whom a Christian life has long seemed only a dream in memory, a possibility left far behind; to you too He is still the same. "What gross absurdity! " Let us give everything up to Him, ourselves and our all. For Him the change between the "to-day" of His earthly life and the " for ever" of His ascended glory made no change in the tenderness of His heart, the sweetness of His smile, the nearness of His helping hand.(A. He came to suffer as a substitute. Then let us to-day promote the manifestation of the true unity of all believers.(S. I want you to turn to a most unusual book of the Bible, the epistle to the Hebrews. It is constancy that is the foundation of hope, and civilisation, and everything that is blessed in the world.(H. A man is gazing intently down a deep, still well, where he sees the moon reflected, and thus remarks to a friendly bystander: "How beautifully fair and round she is to-night! Words had come to them from the heavens of old, obscurely referring to at least one other dispensation that had accomplished itself before man was created. To-day Jesus Christ is the same as when Paul said, "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him until that day." But these mortal, formal changes, whatever they are, do not affect the substantial meaning of the text. It is constancy that is the foundation of hope, and civilisation, and everything that is blessed in the world.(H. Yet here, where nothing is abiding but change — here where we "should imagine that we should get accustomed to change — we are always sighing for that which is the same to-day as yesterday, and which will be the same for ever. Martin.Employing the word "yesterday" to represent past time in general, we ask, who beside Jesus Christ is the same to-day as yesterday? In common things we soon grow wearied of sameness, and the whole earthly system of things is founded on the principle of variety and change. As opposed to such a view of God, a creature of fancy, that changed with all the moods of the imagination, God was declared to be unchangeable. For change there means progress, and the more the human embodiments of Christian truth disintegrate, the more distinctly does the solemn unique figure of Christ the same rise before us. Let us renew our confidence. This sobriety is the most striking proof of His immutability. The Bible revealed Jehovah, the unchangeable; who, being once known, was for ever to be obeyed, because His commands were equitable and right, and from whom such as learned His will, and followed the path of obedience, had nothing to fear, but everything to hope. LET ME SPEAK TO YOU PERSONALLY OF THE UNCHANGING SAVIOUR. Our life continues the same in many vicissitudes, so long as the persons we have to do with are unchanged. )The unchanging ChristA. When there is no allowance of evil the blessed Spirit of God takes of the glories and preciousness of Christ, and reveals them to you for your comfort and joy. I believe he has the same kind heart as ever; but he has not in his power to show it as he was used to do." Such being the nature of the pastoral office, and the duty of those who hold it, what ought to be their character? According to Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th edition), "metonymy" is "a figure of speech consisting of the use of the name of one thing for that of another of which it is an attribute or with which it is associated (as 'crown' in 'lands belonging to the crown')." He gave Himself to it in the beginning; undertook it when man fell; made ready for His advent during four thousand years; came in the fulness of time. Again the thought of the immutable One bears up out of the confusion of changing things. Alas that association so blessed should have had an end.II. I found his house shut up, and all his family gone away." That language can only have reference to a Divine Being, and it can only he with regard to His Divine qualities that Jesus Christ can be said to be immutable. Ministers, who have thus spoken the word of God, should be remembered, their faith followed, and the end of their conversation considered. He came here, not to stay, but to return. In regard to these visible, sensible manifestations, Jesus Christ is different to-day from what He was yesterday, and (we speak with reverence), for anything said in the Scriptures, He may be different to-morrow from what He is to-day. "All, times are sadly changed with him. So He is the same,(1)Yesterday to our fathers;(2)To-day to ourselves;(3)For ever to our children.(T. Some such change may be suggested in 1 Corinthians 15:24, 28. There was perpetual change. "And did you see such a one?" We should imitate them in the efficacy and fruitfulness of their faith, in the practice and virtues of a good life; " whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation," that is, their perseverance in a holy course to the end. The gods of heathen nations made war with each ether, maintaining themselves by the exertion of force against other gods, so that there were revulsions in high and heavenly places, and reigning dynasties were overthrown. Some such change may be suggested in 1 Corinthians 15:24, 28. It has been supposed that the doctrine of God's decrees would repel men, and drive them into infidelity. In what department of this universe shall we find immobility? Can He? He cannot deny Himself.II. And with the changes to which men are subject is associated mutation, which, like waves flowing over sand, affects the condition and appearance of all things. Schools have leaders. It is constancy that is the foundation of hope, and civilisation, and everything that is blessed in the world.(H. So He is the same,(1)Yesterday to our fathers;(2)To-day to ourselves;(3)For ever to our children.(T. These things constitute being and character, and these in Him are without change.(A. Then let us abide in Him to-day. The humanity of Jesus Christ is in all its essential features the same. Yesterday that work was His. The gods of antiquity were shameful, subject to fits of wrath, and to the most fitful changes of the most desperate feelings. What changes need we now fear? must we ever be restless? Again the thought of the immutable One bears up out of the confusion of changing things. These things constitute being and character, and these in Him are without change.(A. He cannot deny Himself.II. 1. And who so likely to bring their lives and conversations to an exact conformity with His holy doctrine, as they, who were so thoroughly instructed in it by the best Master, and shown the practice of it in the most perfect example of holiness and virtue? Subjectively, in His power the same; and that(1)Yesterday, for He made the world;(2)To-day, for He governs the world;(3)For ever, for He shall judge the world.3. You need not fear temptation, for His is an unchanging succour. Now, believer, apply the simple figure. He has made great promises to His disciples. Death has no terror for you, and the endless ages will not see you shaken; for He is " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." "All, times are sadly changed with him. Those shoulders will not bend, and that empire will subsist for ever. Follow for a moment THE SUGGESTIONS OF TRUE CONTEXT; remember those who exercised a blessed, loving, wise " rule " over you, who " spake to you the Word of God," pastors, parents, friends; those who first interpreted to you your soul's yearning and restlessness, and pointed you to Christ for rest; the true and trusty ones who warned you against your dangers, and helped you in your temptations, and solaced you in your griefs; who seemed to read your life, and could speak the very words you needed. And may we not believe this to be the prayer of angels too? Words had come to them from the heavens of old, obscurely referring to at least one other dispensation that had accomplished itself before man was created. how quietly and majestically she rides along 1" He has just finished speaking, when suddenly his friend drops a small pebble into the well, and he now exclaims, "Why the moon is all broken to shivers, and the fragments are shaking together in the greatest disorder!" "Jesus Christ is the same to-day." dear good man, he is safe in Abraham's bosom. When the heavens were opened to the seer of Patmos, he beheld that which made him think of a Lamb newly slain, yet slain from the foundation of the world. But the moment a wrong motive is cherished in the heart, or an idle word escapes the lips unjudged, your happy experiences are smashed to pieces, and you are all restless and disturbed within, until in brokenness of spirit before God you confess your sin (the disturbing thing), and thus get restored once more to the calm, sweet joy of communion. Conceive of the Jews, enveloped in matter, loving to see the objects of their worship before their eyes, and, as they said themselves, to have gods going before them. No; "the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever," there is nothing He ever did, in saving, blessing, sanctifying, that He cannot do again. Lastly, look at these words in their application to THE RELATION BETWEEN THE UNCHANGING CHRIST AND THE ETERNAL LOVE OF HEAVEN. He came here, not to stay, but to return. The gods of heathen nations made war with each ether, maintaining themselves by the exertion of force against other gods, so that there were revulsions in high and heavenly places, and reigning dynasties were overthrown. It is in our personal relations that we feel the identity or the changes of life. All is not fleeting, Christ is the same. Guthrie, D. D.)Christ does not changeJ. He sanctified. Will He fulfil these words? The doctrines and laws, taught by Christ and His inspired apostles, have been, are, and ever shall be, the only rule of faith and manners. Beecher. What a striking difference! There I see the Ideal Type of moral perfection. His ear is the same — quick and sensitive; embracing the harmonies of creation, and receiving at the same time the whisper of a little one's prayer. It is in our personal relations that we feel the identity or the changes of life. You need not fear temptation, for His is an unchanging succour. Your conscience may be sluggish, His voice is powerful to arrest; your heart may have grown hard, His love is strong to melt; your will may have become obdurate, His grace is mighty to subdue.(A. However any may be able. )The changelessness of ChristA. "Remember your leaders." He gave Himself to it in the beginning; undertook it when man fell; made ready for His advent during four thousand years; came in the fulness of time. Death has no terror for you, and the endless ages will not see you shaken; for He is " the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." His MEMORABLE ATTRIBUTES. When there is no allowance of evil the blessed Spirit of God takes of the glories and preciousness of Christ, and reveals them to you for your comfort and joy. Hebrews 13:7 - Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. He came to live as a man — He did live as a man. STUDYING THE EXPERIENCE OF THE LEADERS. The prayer of every Christian heart is: "Oh! In fact, He is not the same yesterday and to-day in the forms and aspects of His existence. We know that the texture of light is unaltered, because the analysis of a ray, which has just reached us from some distant star, whence it started as Adam stepped across the threshold of Eden, is of precisely the same nature as the analysis of the ray of light now striking on this page. The "for ever" of my text is not to be limited to this present life, but it runs on into the remotest future and boundless prospect of an eternal unfolding and reception of new beauties in the old earthly Christ. W. 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