The Unchanging Christ

0:16Thank you for listening to this podcast for Crossroads Bible Church in Rocksdale Texas. Crossroads Bible Church is a Reformed Confessional Baptist Church that meets every Ford at 10 a.m. for Bible study and 11 a.m. for corporate worship. For more information about our church and for directions, you can find us online at www.crbcrockdale.org. Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Turn with me to the book of Hebrews. We have made it to the final leg of our journey through Hebrews chapter 13, starting in verse 1, and we'll be through verse 8 this morning. What a journey it has been to the book of Hebrews. I want to make one quick note before I officially get into my introduction, and my note is this when I preach authoritatively on a subject, it shouldn't be assumed, not that you do, but let me just make it clear, it shouldn't be assumed that I have personally perfected the subject by which and through which I am authoritatively preaching. One of the problems with modern pastoral ministry is that we do tend to stay away from or speak light on subjects that we personally are still battling. At the same time, a criticism is often that pastors are too hypocritical. And to that I say that pastors need the authoritative word of God just as much as you do. And providentially, we were in 1 Samuel chapter 12 this morning in a Bible study, and Samuel says this to Israel, moreover, as for me, or be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you, I will instruct you in the good in a right way. Samuel himself was not a perfect man, but he was committed to instruct in the good in the right way. And so if pastors need an authoritative word, and they speak as one declaring the truth, not as one giving a lecture, if that is true, then if I stand before you just giving a lecture, then I would say criticize away that I am a hypocrite and have no business lecturing anyone because that is in fact true. If I'm speaking the authoritative word of God, though, if this is a declaration of the truth of God, then I must boldly proclaim it with authority, and I must receive it as well. All that to say, hold on tight. Because this is a doozy. Okay? This is a doozy. It is often lamented how things are changed, how things change and how things are changing in the world. So much so, actually, things change and how rapidly things change that even me at the spry old age of 40, uh find myself often shaking my fist saying, kids these days. As though I have any authority to do that. Everything is shifting. Uh politics are shifting. What is politically correct shifts? Morals shift, values shift, virtues shift, ethics, everything seems like it's in disarray. And this can be disorienting and frustrating, especially for people who don't like change, right? I know there's at least one of you out there who doesn't like change. If some sense things are always changing, and I think in some sense things are always changing, but much of what is troubling about our world is the lack of stability. And though things are always changing. What is wrong with the world is a lack of stability. We don't know what marriage is. We don't know what a woman is. We don't know what love is, we don't know really what a friend is. We certainly don't know what a leader is. We don't know what faithfulness is. Because everything keeps moving, changing. The good news is, though, is that we can know what all of those things are, and we can stand firm in them because of one simple and profound truth. And one simple and profound truth only. A truth that grounds everything for us. A truth that is the basis of our salvation, a truth that is the basis of our obedience, the basis of our hope. Without this one truth, I think that the whole of the universe would fall apart. It would cease to be, it would not hold together. But because of this one truth, and by this one truth, we are here, we are saved, and we know everything else. What is that one truth? That's an important one. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And that's the theme this morning, and it's really the theme of the entirety of the next few weeks as we finish Hebrews. Because of the unchanging nature of Christ, revealed to us in his word, we can be assured. We can find stability, we can find guidance, we can find truth because he is unchanging. And we saying, obviously, providentially as well, how firm a foundation you saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word. What more can he say than to you he has said, to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled? This same unchanging Christ, the one who is still speaking to us today, still interceding for us, will surely give us a firm foundation and the stability that we need. So in the unchanging Christ, then this morning, we're going to see his unchanging love and his unchangeable love, unwavering faithfulness, and the unfailing Christ. And to him then be the glory and the honor forever. Stand with me then as we read our text. Hebrews 13, starting in verse 1. Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you are also in the body. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous. Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you. So we can confidently say, The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me? Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you of the Word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. This is the word of the Lord. We thank you for your unchangeable word that is our foundation and our stability. Lord, would you speak to us through this word this morning with all power and all authority that you give to us in your word? We ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Let brotherly love continue. And I'll read a few verse supporting verses as we begin. All of these from John, who was aptly named the disciple whom Jesus loved. John 15, verse 12. This is this is the word of Christ. This is my commandment. That you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends, Christ says. If you do what I command you. John 13. Verse 35, by all this people will know that you are my disciples. You have love for one another. 1 John 4, verse 7, beloved, let us love one another. For love is from God. And whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us that God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that he has loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. We must love one another. Or as the text says, let brotherly love continue. Such a command is easy to say, but much more difficult to actually do. Because how do we fill this command? Fulfill this command to love one another. What does that mean? Is it simply a feeling? If I love you all, feel it. But is it more than that? James 2, verse 15. If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, Go in peace, be warmed, and filled, without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. I think James is applying, by way of analogy, the principle of faith and the principle of love. We can say that we love one another, but if our love is only lip service and we don't actually do anything with our love, what good is that love? If faith is true faith when it responds in love, then love is true love when it moves in love. And I know this is true, because God's love for you was not just lip service. His love manifested itself into an action. We read this during our scripture reading, Romans 5, verse 8. But God shows his love for us. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God's love compelled him, moved him to act, to action. God did not say, I love you. I'll be here waiting for you. Hope it turns out okay. Give me a shout if you need anything. In his love, he acted. He moved. On this idea, this thought, very common for us, to say that phrase. Let me know if you need anything. Have you done this? Someone been in some great need, distress, sick. And our response is, let me know if you need anything. Praying for you, let me know if you need anything. I'm guilty of this too. But we know that the person to whom we say that will rarely, if ever, let us know when they actually need something. It doesn't happen that way. Instead of doing that, church, pray for them. Stop, take five minutes, pray for them, and then think about what that person might need, and then do it. Just do it. I think that the let me know if you need anything is the 2025 version of go in peace, be warm, and be filled. It is the I want to express concern, but I'm too busy, I'm too lazy, I'm too selfish to actually do something about it. So, hey, I love you. Let me know if you need anything. Love for God is love for others. Brotherly love is service to others. Matthew 25, verse 35, For when I was hungry you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did you s when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and you gave you drink? When did we see it see you as stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them, Truly I say to you, as you did it to the one of the least of my brothers, you did it to me. Love is hospitality, and hospitality is service to Christ. Acts 4, verse 35, 434. There was not a needy person among them. For as many as were owners of lands and houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to each as they had need. It's not a call for socialist redistribution of wealth, but it is a call to serve one another. So we are to let brotherly love continue. But not only love for the brethren, but also love for strangers. Verse 2. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. And I think we need to be clear as to what the text is talking about here because many have used this as a tool to advance some political agenda or some political ideology. And I just want us to be clear about what the text says. And I spent perhaps way too much time over this last week, probably not, uh diving into this word strangers in verse 2. Where else is it used in the Bible and what is exactly is the text communicating here? I won't go recap all of that. It would take too long, but I will say, I'll give you at least the main instances in which this word strangers is used in the Bible. In John 10, verse 5, it's used as a person who is unknown, an unknown person, just somebody you don't know. In Acts 17, it is used to communicate a forwarder or a non-native person. In Ephesians twice, in verse 12 and 19 of chapter 2, it's used as a covenantal outsider, somebody who's a non-believer, right? Somebody who wasn't in Christ but has then been brought in Christ, so they were a stranger to Christ. In Hebrews 11, it's a pilgrim, somebody who's on pilgrimage, going home, right, to heaven, to the new earth. And in 1 Peter, it's the word strangers is used as unexpected. When Peter says, um, I'm paraphrasing, do not uh don't be uh don't uh when when troubles come, don't be surprised by it, or don't uh act like this is foreign to you. I think he uses the word foreign there, unexpected. Okay, so those are the instances of which it's used, and I think if we look at the context of those verses, also with Hebrews here, most likely this word strangers here means either someone outside the faith, an unbeliever, whom you are trying to win to Christ through hospitality, or someone inside the faith who is a stranger to you, someone unknown to you, perhaps a visitor that comes in here as somebody whom you've just met, a person who is passing through, a missionary, for instance, who needs help, needs care, needs comfort, needs a meal. Right? And in that we can pull from this text that the command to do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers is don't just love people you know. Don't just love people and care for people that you know. Be hospitable to anyone. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers. And we get some further context to that with this next statement after that, comma, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. And I can't bypass that without talking of that a little bit. What does that mean? Okay. Um everything that I have read makes pretty clear that there are two particular instances by which the author of Hebrews is very likely pointing to. This is Abraham, as you know, just before he is going into Lot, or sorry, just before he's going into Sodom to get Lot and his family out, and he is visited by three angels in the appearance of men, and he shows great hospitality for those men. He is very kind to them, invites them in, prepares these meals or a meal for them. He's very hospitable to these strangers who just happen to be angels in this case, and potentially one of them even being the preincarnate Christ. The next chapter over from that, Lot, um, and we'll say that Abraham's uh hospitality is hospitality from within the family of God, right? From within believers. Lot, though, one chapter later, uh Shows hospitality to two angels in this instance who are delivering news to get him out of Sodom. And what is the hospitality that is shown to those angels from Sodom proper? Not the same, right? The men of Sodom are not hospitable to him, or perhaps hospitable in a very, very different kind of a way. They're looking to exploit these two angels. And that's a contrast of loving hospitality, loving care, against an exploitive kind of a hospitality. To show that the former, that is a loving hospitality, is the way. Because the stranger might not really be a stranger. The stranger may be an angel delivering judgment or bringing deliverance. Now, whether or not any of us will actually entertain an angel, likely not. But the point is that hospitality to strangers is vital. Because a stranger today may be a brother tomorrow. That's the point. A stranger today might be a brother tomorrow. Because even at one time you were a stranger. Ephesians 2. Remember that you at one time were separated from Christ. You were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of the promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now Christ, but now in Christ Jesus, you who are once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ, for he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances. So that he might create himself one new man in the place of two, so by making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing a hostility. We were at one time a stranger. But our good and gracious God in Christ has opened up the storehouse of his riches so that he may lavish them upon us. Our good and gracious God has opened up his home to us. He has opened up his family to you. He has brought you peace and unity. And church, we must not neglect to do the same. We must not. As we continue in our text, the same applies to those who are being persecuted, those who are being mistreated, those who are imprisoned. And I think as I was thinking through this, how quick we are, how quick I am to be cold towards those on whom the justice of God has fallen, right? How cold we are towards those people who are even in the midst of a righteous judgment of God. Instead of taking time to pray for them, to hope for their salvation, to hope for their repentance, to hope for their deliverance. More often than not, we are cold towards those people. But our call is to remember those people. Remember those who are in prison. Remember those who are mistreated. How easy is for church for us to pile on someone? I've been there, to pile on someone when we hear others speaking ill of that person or mistreating them in some way as opposed to defending them and supporting them. That is not love. Are we not one in the body of Christ? Do we not at all times need someone to defend us? We do. We do. And maybe I've shared this before. He says this the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would strongly be tempted to worship. Or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked with a mere mortal. It is immortal souls whom we joke with, whom we work with, whom we marry, whom we snub, and whom we exploit. Immortal horrors are everlasting splendors. Do we treat our interactions as immortal ones? So we are to love one another, to be hospitable, help others, defend others, remember those who are being mistreated and under judgment. Because such was Christ to all of you. That's the unchangeable love of Christ. We're going to continue. Verses 4 to 6. Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and the adulterous. Keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have. For he has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. The most beautiful illustrations, I say the most beautiful illustration of the relationship that Christ has with the church is the illustration of marriage. The fidelity and love of Christ to his bride, the church. That's the best image of Christ's faithfulness. And it's best imaged in the fidelity and love within the context of a Christian marriage. This is the best reflection of Christ's faithfulness. This is why the sexually immoral adultery, infidelity, and lust are so often and so boldly spoken against and warned about in Scripture. Because the institution of marriage was in fact the first institution created by God, wasn't it? And upon the creation of that institution, marriage, the first poem in human history was ever written. This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. That's a poem that Adam wrote. And in perfect poetic harmony, the bride of Christ, i.e., this church, his church, is taken from and formed out of Christ, our bridegroom. From his flesh and from his blood, we have existence. We have eternal union. So faithfulness in marriage is nothing less than a tangible and real manifestation of Christ's love and faithfulness to his church. So when we redefine marriage, when we fail to hold it in honor, when we defile the sacred union between man and woman in marriage, we are tarnishing the beautiful picture that Christ is communicating, and as a result, we are under his judgment. So long as we don't repent. And further, biblical, faithful and pure marriages are the means by which God promises to fulfill and produces eternal souls for his glory. Christians fulfill the command of God. We win the nations through marital fidelity. Faithful, godly marriages produce the most faithful, godly people, and it's not even close. The single greatest need for the church and for the world is the thing really that is most being challenged by abortionists and by those seeking to redefine marriage and redefine gender and distort sexuality and corrupt relationships. The need is faithful marriages, where men and women are together faithfully following Christ and faithfully raising godly children. That's what we need, church. And there is no better way to image Christ than to image his unwavering faithfulness to us. As the text continues, then a big part of that is contentment. Not loving money, which is the root of all evil. Rather, being content in a faithful God who has given you your husband or your wife, along with everything else that he's given you. Every persecution, every hardship has been placed there by a God who will never leave you and who will never forsake you. We don't have to fear. We don't have to be discontent because God is always with us. And if he is our helper, surely there is nothing that man can do to us. Surely there isn't. Often the help that we need, if the Lord is our helper and he will never leave us and forsake us, the help that we need, that which God has ordained through his love, it comes through the love, the hospitality, and the faithfulness of his people through you. Meaning our command, church, is twofold, both to rest in the faithfulness of him, to be content no matter what life gives us. But also the call is to ourselves be the very provision of God to others, to be the very help of God to others, the supply to others. So then we pray, we provide, we uphold, and we defend. It is not us, but Christ through us. And you have the opportunity then, church, to be the unwavering faithfulness of Christ to others. Finally, then, as we close, we look at the last two verses, the unfailing Christ. Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. The call of the unfailing Christ is to be informed by and guided by the unfailing faith of those who came before us. To be guided by the unfailing faith of those who came before us. What sort of outcomes do we see from a life of faith? And I think we as people are very good about judging certain instances and even these small snapshots of time, and especially with respect to our leaders, we judge them in these short instances. When we look at Christ, though, we see the long game that he is playing in consideration of others and those in our lives. We also need to look at the long game. What are the outcomes of their way of life? Not how did he or she handle this one situation? Right? Or not remember that terrible year that that person went through as a way to invalidate their way of life? But rather, what did their faith produce? What did their life of faith produce? And it's for that reason I say that everything that you read, all the wisdom that you gain, should at the very least be very heavily weighted towards dead people. People whose faith can be confidently imitated because the outcome of their faith can be validated. Be very wary of novel faiths. Which promise new ways to walk out faith, new ways of obedience, new ideas about parenting, new fangled ideas about relationships and life? What are the outcomes of those things? If you don't know the outcome because it's too new, how can you, as the text says, consider the outcome of their way of life? What has that produced? If you don't know, be wary of it. Further, this calls us to see the long game as we look to the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. What sort of outcomes do we want to produce in our lives of faith? Do we want to have faithfulness to God until the end? I hope so. Do we want to have godly, faithful marriages? Do we want to have a spirit-filled loving church community? Do we want to have children who walk by faith and who seek God in their lives? Do we want to have godly contentment and trust in Christ? If yes and amen, which it should be, yes and amen, then we have to look to those people who produced that kind of an outcome. We seek out those people whose lives and their who have faith have produced that, and we do exactly what they did. We overcomplicate it, and we certainly let pride get in the way, but I think the immutable nature of Christ has something very powerful to say, and that his truth and his faith working through his people is also immutable. And certainly he still works mysteriously. I'm not saying there's a specific formula to make everything work out perfectly. You have to follow, though, and imitate something, don't you? Yes, you have to follow and imitate something. You will follow and imitate something. Scripturally speaking, that something should be the faith in Christ working through the lives of his people that have produced exalting, Christ-exalting outcomes. That's who we imitate. Okay. Wrapping up. We saw the unchangeable love of God guiding us to love one another, to be hospitable to one another, to serve one another, and to remember one another, especially those in dire, difficult circumstances. The unchangeable love of God. We saw the unwavering faithfulness of Christ guiding us to be faithful in our marriages as we reflect his faithfulness, to live contently, trusting that our Lord will never leave us and is always there helping us. May we both receive that for ourselves and ask God to allow us to be that for other people. We saw the unfailing Christ, whose immutable nature calls us to imitate those whose lives of faith have produced God-honoring results. Knowing that if Christ doesn't change, how we faithfully serve him doesn't change either. Love and service informed through truth and obedience to his word. That is the way, church. In a world that is always changing, that is always seeking to be new, always seeking to be novel. Let us firmly plant ourselves on the firm foundation of Christ in his word. Because though though things change, and they do. There only ever was, and only ever will be one way to everlasting glory. And that is faith in the unchanging right. And as always, Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the unchanging, immutable nature of Christ, Lord. We thank you for your unchanging and immutable nature. Lord, we thank you for the stability that that brings to us, Lord. The faithfulness that it shows us, Lord, the love that it shows us. Lord, I pray and ask that you would help us, Lord. Help us to love as you have loved us. Help us to be hospitable as you, Lord. Help us to be faithful in our relationships here and now, Lord, as we reflect your faithfulness to the Lord. Lord, help us rest in you. Help us to trust in you. Help us to imitate, Lord, those who have done it well. So that we too may finish the race. Well hopefully.