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8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and
for ever. (Heb 13:8)
6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. (Mal 3:6)
19 God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the
son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or
hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Num
23:19)
The one quality that distinguishes a worthy friend is that of
‘unchangeableness.’ A friend who equivocates, or demurs in commitment, is not
such a friend after all. We describe such friends with the diminutive
expression – fair weather friends. The Prodigal Son had many such friends in
the Far Country to which he wandered out of his father’s oversight; but when
his money was flown away, so were those fair weather friends. My father used to
tell me that if a man was able to possess only one truly good friend over a
lifetime, he would be blessed indeed. Of course, five or six such friends would
be a blessing beyond measure of common arithmetic. It is inspiring to know that
every true-born Christian believer does indeed have a friend that is true
hearted, unchanging, and sticks closer than a brother in the Lord Jesus Christ.
24 A man that hath
friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer
than a brother. (Prov 18:24) It is true that
our Lord Jesus Christ has shown Himself more friendly toward us than any
brother, mother, or father could do in dying for our redemption at Calvary’s
Mount. He is a friend beyond the measure of a brother. He was one to whom sin
was a total revulsion; yet, He took our sins upon Himself in complete
humiliation on the cross. He made a promise which He can never abrogate – 47 Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. (John 6:47)
It is a comfort to know our Lord Jesus Christ is the Alpha and Omega – the
beginning and the end! I am Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last: (Rev 1:11) He created all
that we see and know yesterday. (see John 1:1-3) All things today consist
and exist by the power of His Word: 3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power,
when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the
Majesty on high. (Heb 1:3) And tomorrow, He
shall make all things new – the same Hand that made all things from the
beginning: 5 Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto
me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6 And he said
unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will
give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7 He that
overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my
son. (Rev 21:5-7) He will renew His
glorious Creation that has been marred by man’s sin. How marvelous a privilege
and a grace!
The beginning never changes, nor will the end. But
we mortal humans in between on that spectrum do change with the fickle
disposition of a teen-age girl. God is molding our lives and drawing us back to
that musical score between Alpha and Omega that brings melody and harmony to
His favored Creation. He has written a beautiful symphony into His Creation
model which He has placed at the disposal of all who love Divine Music – the
Holy Bible.
As long as all of His believing choristers sing
from the same sheet of Music, the Church is in harmony. But when the notes are
skipped, sung with levity, or carelessly followed, the result is an uncertain
sound. In castigating the Corinthians for their misapplication of the term
‘tongues, or languages,’ Paul said: 8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who
shall prepare himself to the battle? 9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue
words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall
speak into the air. 10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in
the world, and none of them is without signification. 11 Therefore if I
know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a
barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. (1 Cor 14:7-11)
The following is related by Britain’s Lloyd Douglas. Once when he called on his
old violin teacher, he asked, What is the good news today? The old man
went over to a tuning fork that was suspended by a cord and struck it. That, my
friend is an ‘A’! he said. It was an ‘A’ yesterday. It is an ‘A’ today. It will
be an ‘A’ tomorrow, next week, and for a thousand thousand years. The soprano
upstairs warbles off key. The tenor next door flats his high notes. The piano
across the hall is out of tune. There is discord and disharmony all around me.
But that, my friend, is an ‘A.’ And for me, that is good news every day.
Well, our Lord Jesus Christ is an ‘A’ yesterday,
today, and forever. Thanks be to God, we can depend on that! It is
shocking to the rational mind that any would not desire, above all else, to be
a subject of that sovereign Lord. I saw a modern work in a book store last
weekend which was entitled, Heaven is the Reason. Well, that may sound proper
to the shallow minded, but it has no place in the faith of our Lord Jesus
Christ! The Christian is not calculating on the rewards he receives, but rather
on the privileges he enjoys, in Christ. If there were no Heaven or Hell, would
the committed Christian not yet be dedicated to serving His Lord? I think so.
My favorite Anglican cleric, Bishop J.C. Ryle has
said: Of all the doctrines of the Bible, none is so offensive to human
nature as the doctrine of God’s sovereignty. Neither Heaven appeals as
greatly, nor Hell repels as forcefully, as this one doctrine.
We may classify the unchangeable nature of God by
understanding the words of Augustine of Hippo: He truly is, because He is
unchangeable. This is far greater wisdom expressed than many might first
recognize. Time itself is measured in change or movement. But God claims a
special nature: I AM THAT I AM! God is the Eternal Present!
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from
above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness,
neither shadow of turning. (James
1:17) The globe of the earth turns, and the shadow of night follows the
trailing day; but there is no such shadow of turning with God.
25 Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth:
and the heavens are the work of thy hands. 26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all
of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and
they shall be changed: 27 But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no
end. (Psalms 102:25-27)
One last point for thought: God created no soul
that will ever suffer extinction. Each will live on in eternity – someplace.
The salient point raised by this truth is simply, Where shall our souls spend
eternity – in Heaven or in the outer darkness of Hell?
Two profound passages of Scripture may satisfy
your needs in the matter: 5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; 6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance
patience; and to patience godliness; 7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to
brotherly kindness charity. 8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they
make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and
cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10 Wherefore the
rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if
ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you
abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:5-11)
and, 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun
profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. (2 Tim
2:15-16)
