JESUS, THE IMMUTABLE SAVIOUR

Heb. 7:24

Morning Meditation 9/16/17

"But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood."

FIRST BEING IMMUTABLE HE IS UNCHANGEABLE

The words "But this man" is a reference to Christ as our high priest who is superior in every respect but especially in that His priesthood was unchangeable in that He lives forever wherein no one succeeds Him in the priesthood. This is brought out in Hebrews 7:23: "And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death:"

So now we see the context in which the words, "But this man," are found. It is "because he continueth ever." It is hard for us to imagine what eternal life is going to be like. Life without sickness.. Life without death. No doctor's needed. No undertakers needed. No one ever hearing those words, "I hate to tell you sir but you have a terminal illness. No one survives this illness." Those words will not be in heaven's dictionary.

Then the verse adds, "hath an unchangeable priesthood." The reason is that there is no need for change. We change because we are living in a changing world. It is gradual getting worse and worse as time passes along. No new ways of approaching problems. Why is this? Because there are no problems. See! We can't imaging a society without problems. There will be problems in the Millennial reign of Christ on earth. The reason is that that world will still have people who have an old sin nature. When children are born during the millennium they will inherit their father's old sin nature. They will need to be saved when they reach the age of accountability. Many will be saved but many won't.

SATAN'S LAST ATTEMPT TO DESTROY THE UNCHANGEABLE SAVIOUR

At the end of the millennial reign of Christ Satan will be loosed for a little season and he will go out to deceive the world once more. The unsaved will fall right in behind him and follow him in the final rebellion. Revelation 20-13-15 says, "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." When there is no further need for death and hell they will be cast into the lake of fire where Satan, the angels which followed him in the rebellion, and all unsaved people (those who refused the gospel which was preached to them during the millennial reign of Christ) will go to the place where they were sentenced to go. When men and fallen angels go to the lake of fire they go there never to be released. Their judgment is final and eternal. May the Lord Jesus enable us to preach the gospel with power to reach the unsaved before it is too late. There is definitely an urgency that only saved people recognize. Why is this so? Because we believe God's Word. The unsaved do not. To them the book we call the Bible is just a book full of myths. We walk by faith the unsaved walk by sight. The unsaved say, "Show me and I will believe." The saved say, "Tell me (in the Word of God) and I will believe. God created man to walk by faith. When Satan tempted Adam he caused him to change from "knowing by faith" to "knowing by sight." Fallen man insults God by questioning His revelation. Hebrews 11:3 says, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." This verse simply reveals that we know where the earth and heavens came from by believing God's revelation, i.e., the Bible. This is the major turn in the highway of learning for the unsaved. They do not believe the Bible as an accurate revelation of what happened in creation. So they are left to flounder on the sea of rationalism, and the more they listen to the philosophers, the further they are driven by the winds of Satan from the shores of truth.

JESUS IS IMMUTABLY THE SAME

Hebrews 7:24, "But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood." During our Lord's priesthood, you will always find the same one there representing you.

Hebrews 13:8, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." This verse speaks of doctrine. What Jesus stood for when He was on earth, He is still for today. There will never be a change because He was right the first time around. You don't have to change if you have it right to start with. This world is in constant change. The reason is that things get old and need to be changed. But Christ never needs to change because He has a glorified body that will never change. What He was when He was on earth, He remains that way today. If you were to ask the Lord, "Lord, you told your disciples where you were here on earth, I wonder if you have changed on that subject. You said in John 10:27-28, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." Do you still hold to that doctrine? Jesus will answer, "My doctrines never change. Me and my Father settled truth from falsehood before I ever came into the world. What was true then is true now. Yes, that truth is still true."

We have missionaries sent out directly from our local church to various mission fields. They raise their support by making appointments with pastors to come and present the mission field to which God has called them. Sometimes these appointments are made months in advance. Sometimes the missionary takes it for granted that the pastor has put this on his calendar and the church is expecting him. Well, he drives up to the church at service time and the preachers says, "And your name sir?" My name is John Doe. I made an appointment several months ago to be with you in your services today. The pastor looks puzzled, scratches his head, and says, "I'm sorry but I don't remember it." About that time the missionary realizes that he should have contacted this pastor more than once to keep this appointment in mind. The pastor has changed his mind because of a MEMORY LOSS!!! This is not unusual.

When you come to Jesus, He will say hello John. I have been observing you. How are you doing over the things we discussed the last time we had the conversation. Did you do what I told you? How is it working out? If it were yesterday or a year ago, He will know exactly what you discussed and the conversation that took place. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. When you are right you don't have to change. God does not base the truth that He goes by based on changed circumstances. He never changes.

What a great comfort that is. We know that He is willing to do for us what He was willing to do the last time we talked to Him.

Many times in witnessing the new Christian will say to a lost friend, "Jesus will save you. If He did it for me He will do it for you." This is based on the truth of our text. Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever. We know what we have been, and we know that Jesus forgave a mountain of sins when He saved us. When you witness to another, the fact that He never changes gives one boldness to witness, and assure the one we are witnessing to that Jesus never changes. He is still ready to save and forgive you your sins.

F. E. Marsh says of the immutability of God: "The yesterday of the Cross, the today at the right hand of God, and the forever in the glory, find Him unchanging in the intensity of His love, in the preciousness of His promises, in the strength of His power, in the tenderness of His sympathy, in the sufficiency of His grace, and in the longing of His heart. His heart ever beats in love towards us. His hand is ever ready to aid us."

THE IMMUTABILITY OF HIS PROMISES

Hebrews 6:17-19, "Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;"

For God to say He is going to do something is as certain as if it had already been done. It is not possible for God to lie (Titus 1:2). But for the sake of man and His problem with faith, God made a promise and confirmed it by an oath. Hebrews 6, " . . . we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:" God does not want His children to be uncertain concerning their faith. He wants us to be positive. He wants absolute certainty. Our God is not like the other gods of the world. God does not lie, the false god's do lie. They can say something without any intention of its being true. Hebrews 6:14-18, "Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:"

I read in one of Harry Ironsides books where he illustrated this verse of Scripture. He said back in those days the ships would pull into the natural harbors to load or unload their ships. They had on the big ship a little boat they called the fore-runner. When the tide was out the ship couldn't get across the sand bar to enter the harbor. So when the tide was out, they would take the fore-runner and put the anchor in it, and take the anchor of the big ship and drop the anchor of the big ship in the shallow waters of the harbor. Now the ship was secure. If a storm arose quickly as they often did, the fore-runner had already passed through the shallow waters of the harbor and dropped anchor and was safely anchored in the harbor.

Jesus is our immutable Saviour. He does not change. What a comfort that is that we are safely anchored in the capitol city of the where it is anchored safely in the harbor. May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White