WEBVTT 00:00:01.469 --> 00:00:06.589 We live in the midst of change and we ourselves 00:00:06.589 --> 00:00:13.529 are changing. I recently passed another age mile 00:00:13.529 --> 00:00:17.929 marker. On the same day I saw a friend of mine 00:00:17.929 --> 00:00:21.289 with whom I went to college and as I looked at 00:00:21.289 --> 00:00:30.640 him, I thought, my, he is looking older. Not 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:33.240 only are we changing, but the times that we live 00:00:33.240 --> 00:00:37.520 in are producing change at an ever -accelerating 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:47.340 pace. Consider, for example, that in 1960 there 00:00:47.340 --> 00:00:53.939 were 439 ,000 unmarried households, couple households, 00:00:55.060 --> 00:00:57.880 in the United States. That was 30 years ago. 00:00:58.939 --> 00:01:07.180 Last year, there were 2 ,588 ,000 of them. Six 00:01:07.180 --> 00:01:15.620 times as many, nearly. In 1910, of the households 00:01:15.620 --> 00:01:21.260 across the United States, 81 % were headed by 00:01:21.260 --> 00:01:26.540 a husband and a wife. 81%. In the next 40 years, 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:31.840 until 1950, that dropped only 3%. 78 % were still 00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.680 headed by a husband and a wife. But in the next 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:41.340 40 years, until 1990, that dropped to 55%. Times 00:01:41.340 --> 00:01:46.700 are producing change. And as we look into the 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:49.640 future, we are told that in the next decade, 00:01:50.640 --> 00:01:54.269 between now and the year 2000, Time is going 00:01:54.269 --> 00:01:57.310 to occur three times faster than it did in the 00:01:57.310 --> 00:02:03.750 last 30 years. We're told that by the year 2000, 00:02:04.069 --> 00:02:06.469 native -born Anglo -Saxons in the United States 00:02:06.469 --> 00:02:11.009 will experience a zero birth rate. The fastest 00:02:11.009 --> 00:02:16.750 growing minority today come from the Asian Rim. 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:25.120 Life expectancy in the year 2000 will be 90 on 00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:35.599 the average. Today the fastest growing age group 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:39.939 in the United States is what age do you think? 00:02:43.300 --> 00:02:47.800 Those who are 85 years of age and older. That 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:50.580 is the fastest growing age group in America. 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:53.580 It used to be if you watched the Today Show, 00:02:53.699 --> 00:02:55.759 Willard Scott honored those who are 100 years 00:02:55.759 --> 00:02:58.840 of age. They hardly take note of those anymore. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:03.599 Now it's those who are 102 or 105 or 107 years 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:13.400 of age. Currently, one -fourth of all the homes 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:18.300 in America have computers. By the year 2000, 00:03:18.379 --> 00:03:24.759 that will double. By the year 2000, white Americans 00:03:24.759 --> 00:03:31.219 will be a minority in California. And get this, 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:37.719 those of you who are baby boomers, in your lifetime, 00:03:38.099 --> 00:03:42.539 on the average, you will change jobs ten times. 00:03:43.780 --> 00:03:46.159 Some of you are well above average at this point 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:53.520 already. But for the average baby boomer, there 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:56.340 will be ten job changes, and not only that, there 00:03:56.340 --> 00:04:01.300 will be three vocational changes. Entire different 00:04:01.300 --> 00:04:06.259 directions in vocation on the average. And we're 00:04:06.259 --> 00:04:08.759 told that half of all the knowledge we possess, 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:14.400 half of it, we gained in the last 10 years. Think 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:20.680 of that. The amount of what we know doubled from 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:26.339 1980 until 1990. But they estimate that what 00:04:26.339 --> 00:04:31.379 we know today is only 3 % of what we will know 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:37.500 by the year 2010. An explosion of knowledge which 00:04:37.500 --> 00:04:40.620 will produce an ever accelerating rate of change. 00:04:42.359 --> 00:04:45.220 Now change is very threatening to some people. 00:04:46.439 --> 00:04:49.980 Change may be good, change may be bad, but the 00:04:49.980 --> 00:04:52.980 fact is it's a reality that we must learn to 00:04:52.980 --> 00:04:57.439 live with if we haven't already. It is wonderful 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:01.480 to know that the God that we worship is both 00:05:01.480 --> 00:05:06.839 eternal and changeless. He has neither beginning 00:05:06.839 --> 00:05:12.660 nor ending, and His perfections cannot change. 00:05:13.579 --> 00:05:17.519 That's incomprehensible to us. It's in the first 00:05:17.519 --> 00:05:21.279 place impossible for us to imagine eternity. 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:25.939 But it's just as impossible to conceive of a 00:05:25.939 --> 00:05:29.740 living being who does not experience some sort 00:05:29.740 --> 00:05:35.600 of change. And why is that so inconceivable to 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.970 us? It is because we are created in a universe 00:05:38.970 --> 00:05:44.209 whose basic design includes both time and change. 00:05:47.410 --> 00:05:50.370 Eternity and immutability, which is another word 00:05:50.370 --> 00:05:55.250 for changelessness, distinguish God from his 00:05:55.250 --> 00:06:00.009 creation. The truth of that is captured in the 00:06:00.009 --> 00:06:02.889 words of Praise My Soul the King of Heaven written 00:06:02.889 --> 00:06:07.759 by Henry Francis Light in the last century. Mr. 00:06:08.220 --> 00:06:11.360 Light was well ahead of his times. We think that 00:06:11.360 --> 00:06:13.620 paraphrasing the Bible was something begun in 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:18.759 the 1960s. Actually, he started it well over 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:22.639 a hundred years ago when he paraphrased Psalms 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.879 for his congregation in Devonshire, England. 00:06:27.439 --> 00:06:29.740 And that hymn, which is in our hymnal entitled, 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:33.439 Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven, is his paraphrase, 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:38.620 a poetic paraphrase of Psalm 103. There is a 00:06:38.620 --> 00:06:41.139 verse that is not in our hymnal, but which well 00:06:41.139 --> 00:06:44.120 captures this truth of our changeability and 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:48.980 God's changelessness. It says, frail as summer's 00:06:48.980 --> 00:06:54.240 flower we flourish. Blows the wind and it is 00:06:54.240 --> 00:07:00.139 gone. But while mortals rise and perish, God 00:07:00.139 --> 00:07:06.259 endures. unchanging on. Hallelujah, hallelujah, 00:07:06.399 --> 00:07:12.680 praise the high, eternal one. The fact of God's 00:07:12.680 --> 00:07:15.459 eternity and his changelessness are linked together, 00:07:15.639 --> 00:07:20.240 they're inseparable truths. Think with me first 00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.459 this morning that God is unchangeable in his 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:28.500 nature, in the very being of his person. There 00:07:28.500 --> 00:07:31.379 is no mutation with God. There is no evolution 00:07:31.379 --> 00:07:34.560 in the person of the biblical deity, this one 00:07:34.560 --> 00:07:40.060 and true God. There is none. Now I need to point 00:07:40.060 --> 00:07:42.720 out that there is a radical theology that is 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:45.920 being promoted by certain secular theologians, 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:49.439 if you can believe that term, secular theologians, 00:07:50.699 --> 00:07:55.040 who accommodate their idea of God to the theory 00:07:55.040 --> 00:07:59.500 of evolution. They have produced what is called 00:07:59.500 --> 00:08:04.459 process theology. Maybe you've seen that term 00:08:04.459 --> 00:08:08.139 or heard about it. You certainly see the results 00:08:08.139 --> 00:08:12.420 of it, especially in mainline churches. Process 00:08:12.420 --> 00:08:16.899 theology is rooted in Hegelian philosophy. Its 00:08:16.899 --> 00:08:21.699 idea is that the universe is incomplete and always 00:08:21.699 --> 00:08:25.079 changing. Nothing can ever be perfect or final. 00:08:25.629 --> 00:08:30.129 because they say reality is always moving, dynamic, 00:08:30.430 --> 00:08:37.690 and in process. The father of this idea of process 00:08:37.690 --> 00:08:41.830 theology is Alfred North Whitehead, a philosopher 00:08:41.830 --> 00:08:46.590 and mathematician. As he defines God, God is 00:08:46.590 --> 00:08:51.279 an impersonal force. Sometimes we're impressed 00:08:51.279 --> 00:08:53.419 with the fact that 90 -some percent of Americans 00:08:53.419 --> 00:08:58.919 believe in God. The question is, which God? The 00:08:58.919 --> 00:09:01.460 God of the Bible or some God that's been created 00:09:01.460 --> 00:09:07.100 by people like this man, Whitehead. He says God 00:09:07.100 --> 00:09:12.820 is an impersonal force which controls evolution. 00:09:13.669 --> 00:09:16.669 and changes with nature. God is not supreme, 00:09:16.750 --> 00:09:20.409 God is not sovereign, but He is a co -creator 00:09:20.409 --> 00:09:26.169 with man. Interesting thought. And He is working 00:09:26.169 --> 00:09:33.210 with man to shape the future. This kind of theology 00:09:33.210 --> 00:09:35.789 gives birth to a lot of things including the 00:09:35.789 --> 00:09:43.860 rewriting of moral codes. You see, if God is 00:09:43.860 --> 00:09:47.340 changing, then the standards that we have traditionally 00:09:47.340 --> 00:09:54.419 associated with God also change. And this is 00:09:54.419 --> 00:09:56.700 being illustrated, for example, in the stir in 00:09:56.700 --> 00:09:59.799 the Presbyterian Church USA at the present time. 00:10:00.440 --> 00:10:02.440 If you read the paper this last week, you read 00:10:02.440 --> 00:10:05.000 something about that. It's being talked about 00:10:05.000 --> 00:10:09.759 in various places. There is a committee which 00:10:09.759 --> 00:10:14.120 has drawn up a new statement on morality which 00:10:14.120 --> 00:10:17.100 denies the authority of the Bible at its very 00:10:17.100 --> 00:10:21.000 first point and says that we should search for 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:24.200 a morality that is based upon love and justice. 00:10:24.659 --> 00:10:27.840 And the new morality they're seeking to promote, 00:10:28.080 --> 00:10:33.159 which undoubtedly the Presbyterian session will 00:10:33.159 --> 00:10:36.639 reject if it gets that far this summer, but it 00:10:36.639 --> 00:10:39.600 will come back again. But the new morality they 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:41.960 promote denies all of the boundaries of traditional 00:10:41.960 --> 00:10:45.799 morality. And I'm not going to go into detail 00:10:45.799 --> 00:10:49.700 because of time. But that kind of an idea about 00:10:49.700 --> 00:10:54.440 God, you see, that he changes, that he's sort 00:10:54.440 --> 00:10:57.620 of in control of evolution and he himself is 00:10:57.620 --> 00:11:02.460 evolving, whatever he is, that kind of an idea 00:11:02.460 --> 00:11:08.200 about God produces shifts in morality. In contrast 00:11:08.200 --> 00:11:11.539 to such muddled ideas that are rooted in rationalism, 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.019 is the biblical revelation of the God that we 00:11:16.019 --> 00:11:21.279 worship. Listen to the words of A .W. Pink. He 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:24.299 says, There never was a time when God was not. 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:26.879 There never will come a time when He shall cease 00:11:26.879 --> 00:11:33.750 to be. God has neither evolved nor grown. or 00:11:33.750 --> 00:11:36.950 improved, all that he is today he has ever been 00:11:36.950 --> 00:11:41.409 and ever will be. I am the Lord I change not, 00:11:41.629 --> 00:11:46.129 Malachi 3 .6, is his own unqualified affirmation. 00:11:46.590 --> 00:11:49.830 He cannot change for the better, for he's already 00:11:49.830 --> 00:11:52.710 perfect. And being perfect, he cannot change 00:11:52.710 --> 00:11:56.330 for the worse. Altogether, unaffected by anything 00:11:56.330 --> 00:11:59.889 outside of himself, improvement or deterioration 00:11:59.889 --> 00:12:04.740 is impossible. He is perpetually the same. He 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:11.259 alone can say, I am that I am. God is totally 00:12:11.259 --> 00:12:17.379 uninfluenced by time. God is also changeless 00:12:17.379 --> 00:12:21.539 in his attributes. As we've just read in Pink's 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:25.419 statement, what he has been, he is now, and he 00:12:25.419 --> 00:12:32.139 always will be. God's attributes are all essential 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:36.679 qualities of his very nature. Pink goes on to 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:39.259 say, whatever the attributes of God were before 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:43.580 the universe was called into existence, they 00:12:43.580 --> 00:12:47.139 are precisely the same now and will remain so 00:12:47.139 --> 00:12:50.700 forever. His power is unabated, his wisdom undiminished, 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.370 his holiness unsullied. The attributes of God 00:12:54.370 --> 00:12:57.169 can no more change than deity can cease to be. 00:12:57.330 --> 00:13:00.490 His veracity is immutable, for his word is forever 00:13:00.490 --> 00:13:03.590 settled in heaven, his love is eternal, his mercy 00:13:03.590 --> 00:13:08.870 ceases not, for it is everlasting." So God is 00:13:08.870 --> 00:13:11.309 changeless in his very being, he is changeless 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:13.509 in his attributes, and he is changeless in his 00:13:13.509 --> 00:13:19.289 purposes. Numbers 23, 19 says, God is not a man 00:13:19.289 --> 00:13:22.519 that he should lie. nor the son of man that he 00:13:22.519 --> 00:13:27.200 should repent. Has he said and will he not do 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:30.899 it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it 00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:36.100 good? 1 Samuel 15 -29 says, the God of Israel 00:13:36.100 --> 00:13:39.200 will not lie or change his mind for he is not 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:43.460 a man that he should change his mind. Once again 00:13:43.460 --> 00:13:46.960 I refer to Pink who says, God's purpose never 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:50.889 alters. One of two things causes a man to change 00:13:50.889 --> 00:13:53.830 his mind and reverse his plans, want of foresight 00:13:53.830 --> 00:13:56.669 to anticipate everything, or lack of power to 00:13:56.669 --> 00:14:00.049 execute them. But as God is both omniscient and 00:14:00.049 --> 00:14:02.690 omnipotent, there is never any need for him to 00:14:02.690 --> 00:14:07.549 revise his decrees. God never changes in his 00:14:07.549 --> 00:14:11.990 purposes. Ah, someone says. But what about the 00:14:11.990 --> 00:14:14.070 statements in the Old Testament in particular? 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:18.220 For example, in Genesis chapter 6, where God 00:14:18.220 --> 00:14:23.779 says he repents of making man. Or in 1 Samuel 00:14:23.779 --> 00:14:30.320 15, where he says he repents of naming Saul as 00:14:30.320 --> 00:14:34.820 king of Israel. Or in Jonah, where God repents 00:14:34.820 --> 00:14:38.740 and does not bring judgment upon Nineveh in that 00:14:38.740 --> 00:14:43.039 generation. Doesn't that mean that God has changed 00:14:43.039 --> 00:14:47.840 his purposes? When the Bible says that God has 00:14:47.840 --> 00:14:50.460 repented, it does not mean precisely the same 00:14:50.460 --> 00:14:55.600 thing as when you and I repent. When the Bible 00:14:55.600 --> 00:14:58.559 says that God repents, it is an accommodation 00:14:58.559 --> 00:15:02.460 of language to try to help us understand what 00:15:02.460 --> 00:15:07.960 has taken place. More accurately, what has changed 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:13.940 is God's dealings with humanity based upon the 00:15:13.940 --> 00:15:17.389 change in humanity. but it is not a change in 00:15:17.389 --> 00:15:21.210 God's purpose. Louis Barry Schaeffer helps us 00:15:21.210 --> 00:15:24.669 by saying, God though immutable or unchangeable 00:15:24.669 --> 00:15:29.929 is not immobile. If he consistently pursues a 00:15:29.929 --> 00:15:33.309 righteous course, his attitude must be adapted 00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:38.309 to every moral change in man. Then he quotes 00:15:38.309 --> 00:16:01.730 Strong, who says, I think that's a good analogy. 00:16:02.590 --> 00:16:05.779 It is not that the sun changes, but It is the 00:16:05.779 --> 00:16:09.379 difference of quality in what it shines upon. 00:16:12.080 --> 00:16:14.500 So when the Bible says God repents, it has not 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:17.039 been a change in God's purposes, but it is a 00:16:17.039 --> 00:16:20.039 change in the way that He deals with man based 00:16:20.039 --> 00:16:27.480 upon the consistency of His purposes. What does 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:30.899 this truth about God mean to us? How does it 00:16:30.899 --> 00:16:35.769 touch our everyday lives? If the God that we 00:16:35.769 --> 00:16:43.889 worship endures as Hebrews 1 told us, if he is 00:16:43.889 --> 00:16:49.029 unchanging as James 1 tells us, if it is true 00:16:49.029 --> 00:16:54.870 as he himself says, I change not, then how does 00:16:54.870 --> 00:16:59.250 that touch your life and mine? Well I believe 00:16:59.250 --> 00:17:02.529 in the first place that it encourages our praying. 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:09.779 For we do not pray to a God who is fickle. We 00:17:09.779 --> 00:17:13.039 pray to a God who is always consistent and forever 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:18.519 dependable. We know from the Bible exactly how 00:17:18.519 --> 00:17:21.980 God views us, how he views the world, how he 00:17:21.980 --> 00:17:24.740 views sin, how he views the righteousness of 00:17:24.740 --> 00:17:28.799 Christ and the cross work of Christ, and he will 00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:33.859 never change in any of those views. So when you 00:17:33.859 --> 00:17:38.319 and I pray, we can be encouraged to know we come 00:17:38.319 --> 00:17:41.799 to the same God that David prayed to, that Moses 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:45.099 prayed to, that the Lord Jesus addressed his 00:17:45.099 --> 00:17:48.619 father, that Paul prayed to, that the saints 00:17:48.619 --> 00:17:51.119 through the ages have prayed to, and he is the 00:17:51.119 --> 00:17:56.319 same today as he always has been. He has not 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:03.670 changed. Well, someone asks the question, and 00:18:03.670 --> 00:18:08.630 rightly so, that this is true. And if God's purposes 00:18:08.630 --> 00:18:16.309 do not change, then why should we pray? It's 00:18:16.309 --> 00:18:19.049 a good question. And there's a very simple answer 00:18:19.049 --> 00:18:22.809 to it. We should pray because God requires it 00:18:22.809 --> 00:18:29.900 of us. God tells us to pray. But you say, what 00:18:29.900 --> 00:18:31.920 good does it do? Well, it brings obedience in 00:18:31.920 --> 00:18:37.839 our lives, for one thing. But remember this, 00:18:37.880 --> 00:18:41.519 that the same God who has purposed the end also 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:47.700 purposes the means to the end. And frankly, prayer 00:18:47.700 --> 00:18:50.599 is part of his means to the ends that he's purposed. 00:18:50.619 --> 00:18:52.920 And how all of that works out, I cannot tell 00:18:52.920 --> 00:18:57.640 you. And I've never read anybody that could. 00:18:59.309 --> 00:19:03.990 I think it's inscrutable. The fact is that God 00:19:03.990 --> 00:19:07.250 encourages us to pray. He tells us to pray because 00:19:07.250 --> 00:19:11.049 our praying is part of His process to the ends 00:19:11.049 --> 00:19:20.809 that He has already designed and fixed. This 00:19:20.809 --> 00:19:24.230 truth about God also establishes moral certainty. 00:19:26.379 --> 00:19:29.660 The relativism that is revealed in such statements 00:19:29.660 --> 00:19:31.700 as being put together by the committee I mentioned 00:19:31.700 --> 00:19:35.980 earlier in the Presbyterian Church is popular 00:19:35.980 --> 00:19:39.400 in our culture. It's popular because of the pluralism 00:19:39.400 --> 00:19:45.420 that has become the hallmark of late 20th century 00:19:45.420 --> 00:19:51.859 American idealism. Pluralism, which basically 00:19:51.859 --> 00:19:54.579 says that there are many truths and all truths 00:19:54.579 --> 00:20:00.420 are equally true. It's a lie, but that's what 00:20:00.420 --> 00:20:05.640 pluralism is all about. And that kind of an ideation 00:20:05.640 --> 00:20:12.960 produces change and relativism in moral standards. 00:20:15.940 --> 00:20:18.559 But the commandments of the unchanging God do 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:22.680 not change. The Ten Commandments have not become 00:20:22.680 --> 00:20:26.500 the Ten Suggestions. There are still God's commandments. 00:20:27.500 --> 00:20:31.619 Now it's true that there is a gray zone where 00:20:31.619 --> 00:20:34.539 God has not spoken with finality and clarity 00:20:34.539 --> 00:20:39.380 on some disputable things. The New Testament 00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:41.839 addresses those, laying down principles as to 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:44.859 how we are to respond within the context of our 00:20:44.859 --> 00:20:50.880 culture in those areas. But remember that there 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:54.759 are principles of right and wrong embodied in 00:20:54.759 --> 00:20:57.319 the Word of the unchanging God and they are forever 00:20:57.319 --> 00:21:02.680 the same. They must be because they are a true 00:21:02.680 --> 00:21:07.380 measure in terms of human morality of God's standard 00:21:07.380 --> 00:21:16.880 for righteousness. The truth of God's unchangeableness 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:20.180 encourages us to pray. It establishes moral certainty. 00:21:20.400 --> 00:21:24.440 It also ensures perfect justice. Perfect justice. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:30.000 What I'm about to say is a warning to those who 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:37.519 are living in sin. God's wrath upon sin has not 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:44.460 subsided except at the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:21:47.259 --> 00:21:51.559 The wrath of God upon sin, though he may withhold 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:58.240 it for a time, will still come. God has not grown 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:03.500 accustomed to human sin. It is as offensive to 00:22:03.500 --> 00:22:07.599 him today as it was in the Garden of Eden when 00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:12.579 Adam and Eve first sinned. And God's wrath is 00:22:12.579 --> 00:22:16.559 still coming and will come, certainly, upon all 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:19.900 human sin. Thank God for the cross, however, 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:25.240 for that wrath has already fallen upon a substitute 00:22:25.240 --> 00:22:29.640 for those who will go to the cross and bow the 00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:35.019 knee and recognize that great work of God in 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:38.950 the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. For 00:22:38.950 --> 00:22:41.630 those who will not do that, there is but one 00:22:41.630 --> 00:22:47.809 destiny and that is eternal punishment because 00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:50.869 they have ignored the only provision that the 00:22:50.869 --> 00:22:53.630 eternal God has made for sinful people to be 00:22:53.630 --> 00:23:00.710 right with himself. The unchangeableness of God 00:23:00.710 --> 00:23:06.609 ensures perfect justice and it also underscores 00:23:06.609 --> 00:23:11.480 the promises of God. God's promises are constant. 00:23:11.480 --> 00:23:16.319 They are trustworthy. To Titus, Paul said he 00:23:16.319 --> 00:23:20.039 is the God who cannot lie and he promised. To 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:25.160 Timothy, he said God cannot deny himself. God 00:23:25.160 --> 00:23:27.980 makes a promise he must and will keep it because 00:23:27.980 --> 00:23:32.880 he is unchangeable. That is why we are committed 00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:36.240 to that system of theology that says God is still 00:23:36.240 --> 00:23:39.900 going to fulfill his promises to Abraham. in 00:23:39.900 --> 00:23:43.920 the Abrahamic Covenant. Because God made certain 00:23:43.920 --> 00:23:49.819 promises to the Jewish people. And one day He 00:23:49.819 --> 00:23:53.200 is going to fulfill those promises without fail. 00:23:57.339 --> 00:24:01.680 I'm grateful to know that John 3, 16 is an unchangeable 00:24:01.680 --> 00:24:06.200 promise. That it is dependable that whoever will 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:09.589 believe in the Son of God whom He has given in 00:24:09.589 --> 00:24:13.750 His love will not perish but have everlasting 00:24:13.750 --> 00:24:17.769 life. That is a promise and it's forever true. 00:24:20.230 --> 00:24:23.049 Let me say finally that the unchangeableness 00:24:23.049 --> 00:24:29.069 of God also, if you stop and think about it, 00:24:29.650 --> 00:24:34.130 entices us toward heaven. Do you ever get weary 00:24:34.130 --> 00:24:39.269 with change? Do you get tired of the pace of 00:24:39.269 --> 00:24:44.329 it in the world, not to speak of your world? 00:24:46.950 --> 00:24:51.190 The unchangeableness of God, that there is a 00:24:51.190 --> 00:24:57.250 sure resting place, entices us toward heaven. 00:24:58.369 --> 00:25:02.210 In the midst of change we rest in a God who provides 00:25:02.210 --> 00:25:11.440 security and reliability. and we long for deliverance 00:25:11.440 --> 00:25:14.500 from the kind of change that we experience in 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:22.940 this world. Decay, degeneration, separations, 00:25:23.960 --> 00:25:28.240 death. Turn with me in your Bible to Revelation 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:32.599 chapter 21 and notice that none of these kinds 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:36.900 of changes will be a part of heaven. Revelation 00:25:36.900 --> 00:25:41.740 21 God says in verse 3 behold the tabernacle 00:25:41.740 --> 00:25:45.400 of God is among men And he shall dwell among 00:25:45.400 --> 00:25:48.140 them and they shall be his people and God himself 00:25:48.140 --> 00:25:52.000 shall be among them and He shall wipe away every 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:54.839 tear from their eyes and there shall no longer 00:25:54.839 --> 00:26:00.440 be any death There shall no longer be any mourning 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:06.740 or crying or pain the first things Which includes 00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:14.490 change and time have passed away. He who sits 00:26:14.490 --> 00:26:17.910 upon the throne said, behold, I am making all 00:26:17.910 --> 00:26:26.849 things new. Look in verse 23. The description 00:26:26.849 --> 00:26:30.549 here of the heavenly city. The city has no need 00:26:30.549 --> 00:26:35.400 of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it. Those 00:26:35.400 --> 00:26:38.039 are basic elements of change, aren't they? Light 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:41.500 and darkness. In our world, we live with them 00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:46.720 every 24 hours. No need for these any longer, 00:26:46.779 --> 00:26:49.480 for the glory of God has illumined it, the city, 00:26:49.539 --> 00:26:53.900 and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations shall 00:26:53.900 --> 00:26:57.759 walk by its light, and the kings of the earth 00:26:57.759 --> 00:27:01.440 shall bring their glory into it, and in the daytime... 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:03.259 Now, notice that. Isn't that an interesting thought? 00:27:05.799 --> 00:27:08.960 In the daytime, there shall be no night there, 00:27:09.099 --> 00:27:12.579 its gates shall never be closed. They shall bring 00:27:12.579 --> 00:27:14.980 the glory and the honor of the nations into it, 00:27:15.119 --> 00:27:18.000 nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination 00:27:18.000 --> 00:27:21.460 and lying shall ever come into it, but only those 00:27:21.460 --> 00:27:23.759 whose names are written in the Lamb's book of 00:27:23.759 --> 00:27:27.059 life. He showed me a river of the water of life, 00:27:27.500 --> 00:27:29.940 clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God 00:27:29.940 --> 00:27:31.700 and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. 00:27:32.279 --> 00:27:34.759 And on either side of the river was the tree 00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:37.400 of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit yielding its 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:40.819 fruit every month Well, that's an interesting 00:27:40.819 --> 00:27:46.619 term isn't it for heaven every month and The 00:27:46.619 --> 00:27:48.480 leaves of the tree were for the healing of the 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:50.680 nations and there shall no longer be any curse 00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:52.519 and the throne of God and of the lambs shall 00:27:52.519 --> 00:27:55.460 be in it and His bond servant shall serve him 00:27:55.460 --> 00:27:58.519 and they shall see his face in his name shall 00:27:58.519 --> 00:28:00.839 be in there on their foreheads and there shall 00:28:00.839 --> 00:28:05.940 no longer be and unite. And so we have terms 00:28:05.940 --> 00:28:08.720 that are used here that we relate to in our change 00:28:08.720 --> 00:28:14.259 in time universe, but which describe something 00:28:14.259 --> 00:28:19.619 that happens beyond the veil of time and change. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:26.359 Have you ever thought about heaven, about eternity 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:31.759 to come? Does that mean that there is no time 00:28:31.759 --> 00:28:38.339 there? Or does that mean that there is endless 00:28:38.339 --> 00:28:45.700 time there? Or does it mean that heaven is the 00:28:45.700 --> 00:28:51.200 eternal present? Those are three different positions. 00:28:52.339 --> 00:28:57.640 Good people take different positions there. But 00:28:57.640 --> 00:29:00.380 the fact is, though we think of heaven as being 00:29:00.380 --> 00:29:04.480 without time, there is some kind of process that 00:29:04.480 --> 00:29:11.000 takes place. It mentions here months, for example, 00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:19.480 and seasons of fruit from the trees. Whatever 00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:24.220 the mystery of all of that, the truth that we 00:29:24.220 --> 00:29:28.309 shall be in a perfect place Where there is not 00:29:28.309 --> 00:29:32.589 the kind of change and sorrow and separation 00:29:32.589 --> 00:29:34.890 and death that we experience in this world, it 00:29:34.890 --> 00:29:45.690 entices us on doesn't it? It is normal to experience 00:29:45.690 --> 00:29:50.829 anxiety around changes in life. Some of you are 00:29:50.829 --> 00:29:54.710 experiencing that. Some of you are newly single 00:29:54.710 --> 00:29:58.660 again. Others of you are couples who've recently 00:29:58.660 --> 00:30:03.559 emptied the nest. Some are about to be engaged 00:30:03.559 --> 00:30:09.920 or married. That brings big change. Some are 00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:12.420 about to graduate from school. Some are beginning 00:30:12.420 --> 00:30:15.180 a new job this week. Others are moving to a different 00:30:15.180 --> 00:30:22.339 city. We live in a society that changes more 00:30:22.339 --> 00:30:25.609 than some of us at least can accommodate. to 00:30:25.609 --> 00:30:31.269 our personal convictions. It is not easy to live 00:30:31.269 --> 00:30:35.750 in a world that changes. It produces anxiety. 00:30:36.049 --> 00:30:43.349 How do you handle anxiety about change? Let me 00:30:43.349 --> 00:30:46.089 just drop in two or three suggestions. One idea 00:30:46.089 --> 00:30:49.789 is to share your feelings of anxiety with intimate 00:30:49.789 --> 00:30:52.410 friends who can understand what you're facing. 00:30:55.070 --> 00:31:00.549 and pray with you. And then secondly, think about 00:31:00.549 --> 00:31:04.430 what you're anxious about. Someone has said, 00:31:04.650 --> 00:31:06.970 don't tell me it doesn't do any good to worry 00:31:06.970 --> 00:31:10.450 because the things I worry about never happen. 00:31:14.670 --> 00:31:19.029 There's a short circuit there somewhere. But 00:31:19.029 --> 00:31:21.130 think about those things that you worry about 00:31:21.130 --> 00:31:24.599 and imagine the worst case scenario. And what 00:31:24.599 --> 00:31:29.819 you would do, would it really be that bad? But 00:31:29.819 --> 00:31:32.099 most importantly, commit your way to the Eternal 00:31:32.099 --> 00:31:38.059 God, the Unchanging One, and trust in Him to 00:31:38.059 --> 00:31:41.440 guide you and strengthen you through this world 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:48.079 of change. I mentioned earlier Henry Francis 00:31:48.079 --> 00:31:52.400 Light, who wrote the poem, Praise My Soul, the 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:56.240 King of Heaven. He was a man who experienced 00:31:56.240 --> 00:32:00.240 change in his world about a century and a half 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:05.700 ago. He grew up wanting to become a physician 00:32:05.700 --> 00:32:09.440 but ended up being a clergyman. That was a change, 00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:15.680 quite a change. For 25 years of his life he ministered 00:32:15.680 --> 00:32:21.039 to humble fishermen and sailors in Lower Brixam 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:25.500 in Devonshire, England. In the latter years of 00:32:25.500 --> 00:32:28.319 his life, he fought tuberculosis, which had no 00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:32.839 cure in those days. He saw a change in his body 00:32:32.839 --> 00:32:36.880 and his activity, his lifestyle, because of the 00:32:36.880 --> 00:32:41.740 deterioration that took place. It grew worse 00:32:41.740 --> 00:32:44.799 until finally a doctor told him that he had to 00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:48.920 spend the winter of 1847 in a warmer climate 00:32:48.920 --> 00:32:53.579 and suggested that he go to Italy. And so on 00:32:53.579 --> 00:32:56.319 September 4th of that year, he preached his last 00:32:56.319 --> 00:33:00.640 message to his little congregation there in Devonshire 00:33:00.640 --> 00:33:04.640 and administered communion to them one more time 00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:10.319 as they sorrowed together over his leaving. That 00:33:10.319 --> 00:33:13.519 afternoon, he walked alone along the seashore 00:33:13.519 --> 00:33:18.940 and watched the sunset. And as it did, it reflected 00:33:18.940 --> 00:33:23.549 its golden rays in the blue waters. and he was 00:33:23.549 --> 00:33:27.349 impressed to write another poem based upon that. 00:33:27.430 --> 00:33:31.470 And so he returned to his home, and in the space 00:33:31.470 --> 00:33:34.450 of 60 minutes or so, he hammered out the words 00:33:34.450 --> 00:33:39.390 of a poem on the anvil of his own life experience. 00:33:42.349 --> 00:33:45.450 It's meaningful as you realize that he left Devonshire 00:33:45.450 --> 00:33:49.009 and headed toward Italy, but before he got there, 00:33:49.190 --> 00:33:54.779 he died. and went to be with the Lord. That poem 00:33:54.779 --> 00:33:59.140 is found in our hymnals. I'd like you to turn 00:33:59.140 --> 00:34:01.200 there with me as we sing a couple of verses of 00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:06.160 it. It's 478. In light of what you've learned 00:34:06.160 --> 00:34:11.079 about Henry Light, I'd like you to notice the 00:34:11.079 --> 00:34:14.659 words carefully. And notice also that his faith 00:34:14.659 --> 00:34:20.769 was resting not in his changing circumstances, 00:34:21.590 --> 00:34:26.750 but in a God who change is not. Would you stand 00:34:26.750 --> 00:34:30.809 with me as we sing verses 1 and 2 of 478.