This Too Shall Pass
By
Shelby G. Floyd
“Remember your leaders,
who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and
imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do
not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings….” (Hebrews 13:7-9).
There is a story of an ancient King who called all of his wise men before him and he gave them an order. "I want you wise men to go to your study and formulate one sentence that can sum up everything in life." These men were fearful for their lives. How could they come up with one sentence that would summarize everything that happens in this world? Finally after they had worked in on this project for a long time they asked to be presented to the king. He asked them to present their finding. They gave him this answer: "This too shall pass.” When any of us are frustrated or upset let us remember this statement, "This too shall pass.” Everything in this life is going to pass. Everything in this world is subject to change except the unchanging things of God. But in the midst of a changing world there are some things that never change.
THIS
One of the
things that I would like to do before I leave this earth is to go out and see
the great Northwest. I would love to see
the
In that park I
would like to gaze upon the geyser
REMEMBER YOUR LEADERS
In our text found in Hebrews 13: 7-9, the writer is telling us to remember our leaders who have spoken the Word of God to us. We are asked to imitate their faith because they are trying to help us to go to heaven. We are advised not to follow after strange teachings. We need leaders today who have great faith and vision. We need leaders who have a vision of the future. We need leaders who realize that there are some things that ought not to change and there are some things that should change.
Notice these statements by leaders of yesterday. These leaders lacked faith and vision of the future.
These men were leaders but they could not see the change that would take place that we see today. We hope in this congregation that our leaders will realize that there are some things that should not be changed and must not be changed, but if the church is to grow there are some things that should change and we have to go along with the times in those areas where God has allowed. Imperfect things need to be changed and made better. Things that are perfect do not need to be changed and do not need to be meddled with.
OUR CHANGING WORLD
Let us look at some things that have changed in your lifetime and in my lifetime.
Transportation
I can remember
when I was a boy that the automobile was just beginning to be used by the
average person. My dad had an old Ford
automobile. I would hear them say that
you need to be careful when you crank the automobile because that crank will
kick back and break your arm. Look how
far we have come in the area of transportation.
As Marshall Keeble used to say, “We have come
from mule back to jet plane.” This has
happened in less than a hundred years.
There has been great change in transportation.
Communication
Communication
has changed. During the Revolutionary
war a peace treaty had been signed with
Agriculture
Think about the changes in agriculture. In many parts of our country the soil would not produce good crops, but because of fertilizer the hills and fields are now green most of the year. We have harnessed the laws of nature in order to produce more food for our people and the people of the whole world.
Medicine
Observe how the field of medicine has changed in recent years. One time my cousin had the croup and my grandma had a homemade concoction that would make him well. She would fill a cup full of very fine chopped onion and then put it in an iron skillet. Next she would take a cup full of sugar and put it in the skillet. Finally she would put a cup of vinegar in the skillet and cook all the ingredients until it was syrup. She would strain the syrup and then give my cousin a big tablespoon full of it. It was not long until he was over the croup. It tasted and smelled awful. Aren't you glad as a parent that you have other options today? Modern medicine is expensive but it has improved our quality of life and length of life.
In the midst of a changing world what can we do as Christians to have security and hope? We need to change the things that need to be changed and we need to hold on to the unchanging things of God. Our God is immutable. And "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8). Jesus Christ like his Father and like the Holy Spirit is unchanging and immutable.
THE BASIC NATURE OF
Man is changeable. But there are some things about us that never change. In our basic human nature we are no different from the people in the days of Adam, Moses, or any other times in history. The basic nature of man does not change. Let me point out some of the things of our basic nature that never changes.
Greed
We still have the same greed for money, power and things. Paul declared to Timothy that greed is an ongoing problem with man.
“But godliness
with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into
the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and
clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into
temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men
into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of
evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced
themselves with many griefs. (1 Tim. 6:6-10).
The Bible declares that we should be content with such as we have. Paul had learned the secret of contentment. By experience he knew how to a bound and he knew what it was like to be a based. And in all situations he had learned to trust the Lord. “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.”
Preeminence
We all have the
same love of preeminence. Our ego is
very important to us because we like to be number one, we like to win and that
is not bad to a certain point. But it is
not good when this attitude consumes us.
Paul declared to the Christians at
“For by the grace given me I say to every one of
you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of
yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has
given you.” (Rom. 12:3).
Don’t think more highly of yourself when you ought to think.” We all should learn more humility should we not? Not one of us is as great as we think we are. And if we don’t learn to humble ourselves, God Almighty can do it for us. We read in the Bible of people who exalted themselves like Nebuchadnezzar, bragging about what he had done and God reduced him to an ox eating grass with the dew falling upon his back like a beast.
Lusts of the Flesh
And the basic
nature of man has not changed in as much as we all still have the same desires
of the flesh. That is the reason we see
so much crime, so much evil, so much permissiveness and so much sexual
immorality. As in times past these evils
are rampant in our society. It was the
same in the days of the apostles when Paul addressed these problems to the
churches of
“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual
immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy,]
drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the
That is a long catalogue of sins. Paul could have mentioned many more for the
list could be endless, but he summed them all up in the phrase “such
things.” Anything that is related to
these sins should be avoided by the faithful Christian, because those who do
“such things” will not inherit the
THE BASIC NEEDS OF
Since the basic nature of man have not change, then, we still have the same basic needs. Since we still have the same basic human nature, we still have the same needs, to curb and control those drives. What are the needs we have today that has never changed?
Guidance
We still need to be guided. We are like little children. Children have to learn by starting in kindergarten and by the time they have reached their majority, we must let them go because they have learned to control themselves. We are like children and God gives us the means to learn to control ourselves. And he gives the freed to make our choices. Many people make bad choices because they have never learned to be guided by the Lord. Jeremiah the prophet declared in his prayer to God this need of man to be guided by God,
“I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own;
it is not for man to direct his steps.” (Jer. 10:23).
We all need someone to guide our steps and God has done that by pointing us to the steps of Jesus. (1 Peter 2:21).
Salvation from Sin
We need guidance so we will know how to be saved from our sins. We don’t even like to use that word sin, but if you will observe I is right smack dab in the middle of S—I—N. The first person pronoun I is right in the middle of sin. Every person is involved in sin, has been involved in sin and will be involved in sin. Therefore we need to be saved from the power, guilt and consequences of sin. The theme of the entire Bible is “salvation from sin.” This universal need of salvation from sin is expressed to the Romans,
“There is no difference, for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through
the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (
Even Solomon said “For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good, and sinneth not.” (Eccl.7:20 KJV). We all need to be saved from our sins by the grace, mercy and love of God Almighty.
Encouragement
We all still need
the same encouragement. We continually need lesson that encourage us to go
forward and do better, to be more faithful and to be more zealous. We need to
be encouraged, because we see and hear enough negative things in our world,
that we need some positive encouragement to never, never give up. Let God
encourage you by those who lead you and speak the word of God unto you with
words of encouragement. Paul encouraged the churches of
“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who
are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be
tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law
of Christ.” (Gal. 6:1-2).
And later he says that every man will bear his own burden. (Gal. 6:5). There are burdens that I can help you bear and then there are burdens that no one can bear but you. We can encourage and help one another and we can encourage those who are overtaken in a fault. We can restore him gently. “Restore” is a medical term describing a doctor setting a broken bone. Therefore, we must deal gently with our brothers and sisters who have fallen into sin. We will not encourage such a one if we deal with them in a harsh, unloving and unkind spirit. The Lord Jesus always dealt with people willing to change in a kind and encouraging way—and so should we. Let us reach out with words and actions of encouragement.
Sympathy
We all still
need some sympathy. We need to
sympathize with one another. The Bible
declares, "Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who
weep." Many times we can weep with
those who have sorrow, but we have a problem rejoicing with those that have
something to be happy about. We need to
learn to rejoice that those who are rejoicing and we need to learn how to weep
with those who have sorrow in their lives.
It also Paul declares, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and
weep with them that weep." (Romans
12:15).
Hope
Another
unchanging need a man is hope. Hope is
based upon a reasonable expectation and desire.
What is hope? The Bible answers
that question for us, "For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is
seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for
what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
Man's basic nature does not change and the needs that satisfy in the right way that basic nature do not change either.
CHRIST DOES NOT CHANGE
That brings us to the next point and that is, Christ does not change. Let us notice what the writer of Hebrews said about the unchanging Christ:
"In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and
the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end."
(Heb. 1:10-12)
The writer begins the book with the same thought as found in out text. Our text says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb. 13:8). God is immutable. He does not change. This is called the doctrine of the immutability of God. The nature of the Father, Christ and the Holy Spirit never changes. Let us notice some of the things about Christ that never change.
Priesthood
His priesthood is an unchanging priesthood. In the Old Testament the priesthood was made up of the sons of Levi. They officiated at the altar, they killed the animals, they offered up the sacrifices. And Aaron and his sons were the high priests. But the persons of this priesthood changed because they were subject to death. But the priesthood of Jesus Christ is of a different order, because he never goes out of office. His priesthood is after the order of Melchizedek---an unchanging priesthood. “But because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood.” (Hebrews 7:24). This should give us confidence to approach God through our great High Priest, who is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Existence
His existence
does not change. John records Jesus as saying, “I am the Alpha and the
Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come,
the Almighty." (Revelation 1:8). His eternal existence is indicated by
the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet—Alpha and Omega. The
unchanging existence of Jesus is expressed by the past, present and
future. One of the names of God in the
Old Testament was “I Am.” Jesus Christ
also claimed this title for himself. (John 8:58). The present tense “I am”
expresses the eternal presence of Christ. “Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.”
Authority
Jesus Christ still
has the same authority. If Christ were to come back today he would not have any
more authority than he had when he was on earth. While on earth he claimed that
he had all authority: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me.” (Matthew 28:18).
Messiah
And Christ is our unchanging Savior. How did he achieve this? By being an obedient Son to his Father. “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” (Hebrews 5:8-9). We can depend on Christ because he is immutable and unchanging.
THE ATTITUDE OF CHRIST NEVER CHANGES
Toward Sin
The attitude of Jesus Christ toward certain things never changes. Jesus has the same attitude today toward sin that he had while upon the earth. Jesus is against sin. He came to do something about sin. Jesus came to offer up himself as a sacrifice for sin and to shed his blood for the forgiveness of sin. He declared,
“I told you that you would die in your sins; if
you do not believe that I am the one I claim to be, you will indeed die in your
sins.” (John 8:24). Once more Jesus said to them, "I am going away, and
you will look for me, and you will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come."
(John 8:21).
That is a plain statement. No one could make a more
explicit statement. “You will die in your sin. Where I go, you cannot come.”
Toward Faith
Jesus still has the same attitude toward faith and unbelief. The Bible affirms that one must believe in God,
“And without faith it is impossible to please God,
because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards
those who earnestly seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6).
Without faith in God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit—without
faith in his word, we cannot please him. That is the reason the Christian
system is called a system of faith—“from faith unto faith.” (
Toward Religious Error
Jesus still has the same attitude toward religious error and false teaching. He declared to the people of his day this attitude in plain language:
‘ These people draw
near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their
lips,
But their heart is far from
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the
commandments of men.’”
(Matthew 15:8-9)
When his disciples told him that the Pharisees were offended by his words he replied, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted.” (Matthew 15:13). Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ. We must “reprove, rebuke and exhort”—both positive and negative work is necessary in serving Christ.
Toward Lost Mankind
Jesus has the same attitude toward mankind today that he had when he walked upon the earth. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16). And Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13). God has called us his friends and he sent Jesus to lay down his life for his friends. That is the greatest demonstration of love that any person can make, to lay down his life for those he loves.
THE GOSPEL
Christ has not changed, the basic nature of man has not changed and even though the Christian system has been around for 2000 years, the gospel has not changed. In all of these years the facts of the gospel have remained the same.
The Gospel Facts Do Not Change
What is the gospel? To the Corinthian church Paul explained in what the gospel consists:
“Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I
preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By
this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as
of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the
Scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).
He further declares that Christ was seen by up to 500 people at one time after his resurrection. In this context we have the Gospel facts stated explicitly. They are the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ "for our sins." These Gospel facts will never change. The reason these facts will never change is because man sinned, then came death. Because man was not able to save himself, God sent his unique Son to die and save man. These gospel facts are to be received and believed first of all.
The Gospel Commands Do Not Change
The gospel commands also do not change. We do not obey facts, we believe facts. But when it comes to a command, we must both believe and obey commands.
Believe
We are commanded to believe in God and without faith it is impossible to serve God. And if we believe in God, we must believe in everything he has commanded. (Hebrews 11:6). The command to believe does not change.
Repent
The command to repent has not
changed. Jesus declared that if we do not repent we will perish. (Luke 13:3,5). On the day of Pentecost at the climax of his sermon,
Peter commanded everyone to repent, when they inquired what they should do. (Acts
Confess
If one believes in Christ and repents of sin, that person will want to publicly confess that faith in the Son of God.
“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in
your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we
preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your
heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto
righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans
10:8-10).
Baptism
The command to repent is unto. The command to repent is unto. The command to believe is unto. This preposition unto is progressive and looks forward to a target or goal. But when we come to the command of baptism, it is never unto, but always as a transitional action into someone or something. We are baptized into Christ after we have come unto Christ through faith, repentance and confession. The last words of Christ were,
“Go into all the world
and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will
be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:15-16).
The Gospel Promises No Not Change
And what even better is that the promises of the gospel do not change. We receive and enjoy the promises of God. We believe facts, obey commands and receive and enjoy the benefits of the gospel promises.
Forgiveness
Peter
promised on Pentecost to his audience “forgiveness of sins” to all who would
repent and be baptized. (Acts
Security
We have the promise of assurance and security when we are faithfully serving the Lord. Jesus said that he would be with us to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:20). Everyone seeks to be more secure, but the only sure security is with God.
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"
(Hebrews 13:5-6)
That is a wonderful promise. Just do the right thing and then do not worry about anything. The Lord will never forsake us. We may for sake him, but if we do the right thing he will never leave or forsake us. This promise like most of God’s promises is conditional upon man doing his part.
Heaven
Heaven has been promised to God’s faithful people. When Christ saw that his disciples were depressed and discouraged by his announcement that he would be leaving them by the way of the cross, he encouraged them with the promise of heaven,
“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God,
believe also in Me.
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. 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. And
where I go you know, and the way you know.” (John 14:1-4).
These promises of the gospel will never change because Christ who made them is unchangeable. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8). Will you give your allegiance to such a Savior as the Lord Jesus Christ? Let the unchanging Christ give you constancy in all your ways. Let it happen now! *
*Shelby G. Floyd delivered this sermon