Day 2284 – Hebrews-24 – Changeless Truths in a Shifting World – Daily Wisdom

Welcome to Day 2284 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Hebrews-24 Changless Truths in a Shifting World – Daily Wisdom
Putnam Church Message – 10/15/2023

Changeless Truths In A Shifting World -  Hebrews 13:8-17

We continue our extended series through the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. Last week, we examined Standing at the Crossroads of Commitment and Contentment and discovered that applying the six practical principles we discussed will take our Christian life of faith, hope, and love to the next level.

This week, we turn our attention to comparing the shifting world/ to a collection of changeless truths concerning Jesus Christ and the plan_and_purpose of God.

Let’s read Hebrews 13:8-17. On page 1879 in your Pew Bibles.

Concluding Exhortations

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the Tabernacle have no right to eat.

11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (540–480 BC) observed, “There is nothing permanent except change.” Contrary to other philosophers of the time who believed that reality was that which never changes, Heraclitus contended that everything was in constant flux. From a purely human perspective, Heraclitus seems to be correct. Everything's changing from the subtle currents of a meandering Muskingum River to the roaring waves of the oceans, from the constant motion of subatomic particles to the expansion of the universe.

 

Adding to the constant flux of the physical universe /are the endless fads and fashions of society and culture, politics and morality, philosophy, and religion. Sometimes, change moves slowly, almost imperceptibly—like the gradual transition from summer to fall or the growth of a sapling into a fruit-bearing tree. Other times, changes happen abruptly, even unexpectedly—I think of suddenly losing a job or getting a job, losing a loved one, or meeting a new friend. This constant flowing of the river of reality reminds us that we’re...

Welcome to Day 2284 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom
Hebrews-24 Changless Truths in a Shifting World – Daily Wisdom
Putnam Church Message – 10/15/2023

Changeless Truths In A Shifting World -  Hebrews 13:8-17

We continue our extended series through the book of Hebrews in the New Testament. Last week, we examined Standing at the Crossroads of Commitment and Contentment and discovered that applying the six practical principles we discussed will take our Christian life of faith, hope, and love to the next level.

This week, we turn our attention to comparing the shifting world/ to a collection of changeless truths concerning Jesus Christ and the plan_and_purpose of God.

Let’s read Hebrews 13:8-17. On page 1879 in your Pew Bibles.

Concluding Exhortations

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

9 Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings. It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those who do so. 10 We have an altar from which those who minister at the Tabernacle have no right to eat.

11 The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. 12 And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. 13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. 14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

17 Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus (540–480 BC) observed, “There is nothing permanent except change.” Contrary to other philosophers of the time who believed that reality was that which never changes, Heraclitus contended that everything was in constant flux. From a purely human perspective, Heraclitus seems to be correct. Everything's changing from the subtle currents of a meandering Muskingum River to the roaring waves of the oceans, from the constant motion of subatomic particles to the expansion of the universe.

 

Adding to the constant flux of the physical universe /are the endless fads and fashions of society and culture, politics and morality, philosophy, and religion. Sometimes, change moves slowly, almost imperceptibly—like the gradual transition from summer to fall or the growth of a sapling into a fruit-bearing tree. Other times, changes happen abruptly, even unexpectedly—I think of suddenly losing a job or getting a job, losing a loved one, or meeting a new friend. This constant flowing of the river of reality reminds us that we’re finite, mutable, and mortal. Like the universe, we had a beginning, we’re experiencing the middle, and we’re heading toward an end.

As we ride the rushing rapids of our changing world, however, we need to look at reality not only through physical eyes but also through the eyes of faith. Then, we’ll see God’s perspective on the matter and learn that amid the river of ever-changing created reality, the triune God—His nature and character,/ His plans,/ purposes,/ and promises/—stands like an immovable boulder. In contrast to His creatures and His creation, God is immutable. He is an immovable Rock. He never has a bad day, doesn’t learn things He never knew before, isn’t fickle or moody, doesn’t go back on His word, and doesn’t start something He can’t—or won’t—finish.

 

Hebrews 13:8–17 turns our attention from the shifting world to a cluster of changeless truths concerning Jesus Christ/ and the plan and purpose of God. The practical implications are clear: In a constantly changing, unreliable world, Jesus remains the same. Only in Him can we place our faith, cast our hope, and know how to love. (closing hymn)

13:8–9

One theologian has defined God’s immutability as “God’s inability to change His divine nature or character or be altered by finite circumstances or events.” Another theologian writes, “To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself.” The biblical support for this doctrine of God is found in Malachi 3:6— I am the Lord, and I do not change. And James, Jesus’s half-brother, said in (Jas. 1:17) that with God, He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. So when the author of Hebrews writes, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb. 13:8), we’re given another glimpse of His superior person and work. Because He is fully divine, He has all the attributes of divinity, including immutability.

 

This leads to an essential question about the humanity of Christ: Doesn’t the doctrine that Christ is fully human mean that now, in some sense, God the Son has changed and is, therefore, changeable? Theologian Scott Horrell explains it this way: “If God is immutable, then what about the incarnation? How could the eternal divine Son assume a human nature? Answer: although united to a finite human nature, the Son’s divine nature remains unchanged.… [His] attributes, perfections, purposes, and promises never change.” Because Jesus Christ is unchanging in this way, He is superior for pressing on with stability in a constantly changing world.

 

The unchangeableness of Christ’s character, nature, purpose, plans, and promises (see 13:8) keeps believers in Christ from being swept away by the swift currents of “all kinds of strange teachings” mentioned in 13:9. The word stange is from the Greek word poikilos, which is used to describe something diverse, variegated, or many-colored. (colorful cloth – quilting example) In other words, false doctrines come in all shapes and sizes because they spring from people’s shifting imaginations, not from Christ's unchanging person and work. In the same manner, God takes our broken lives with ragged edges and quilts us into a beautiful imager of Him.

 

Not surprisingly, in the first century, these false teachings attacked the fundamental principle of grace (13:9). God had granted the gifts of salvation and spiritual strength through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, false teachers, like those trying to woo Jewish believers back to the Law, were attempting to enslave believers—who had been saved by grace through faith—under an obsolete system of dietary regulations that was never meant to provide inner strength. The same kind of Judaizing heresy was being propounded elsewhere. (Gal. 3:1–5; Col. 2:16, 20–23; 1 Tim. 4:3). On this passage, Raymond Brown notes, “It is grace which strengthens the believer’s heart, not subscription to rules and the avoidance of prohibited foods. There is no room now for material sacrifices, animal offerings, sacred meals, and hallowed altars. All that is over and gone.”

13:10–17

Over against the obsession of Judaizers with altars, sacrifices, and sacred meals, the author of Hebrews reiterates the superiority of the person and work of Christ. We’ve seen this theme developed in-depth throughout the book of Hebrews. Here, the writer takes one last swipe against the obsolete practices of Judaism. This time, the contrast is more practical—those who find Christ superior for pressing on /and those who choose to return to an empty religion.

 

In Hebrews 13:10–17, we see five specific things believers have/ as they abandon the uncertain beliefs and practices of a shifting world/ to hold firm to the unchangeable grace of the Lord Jesus. These five things are: an altar to use (13:10), a reproach to bear (13:11–13), a city to seek (13:14), a sacrifice to offer (13:15–16), and leaders to follow (13:17). Bulletin Insert.

First, we have an altar to use (13:10). The old system of the tabernacle accomplishes nothing eternal, nothing spiritual, and nothing that can contribute to our salvation or sanctification/holiness. It never has in any permanent way. Christians have an altar utterly distinct from the tabernacle's animal sacrifice system. Here, “altar” is used as an image of the perfect sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Those who exchange the complete atonement of the cross of Christ for the temporal, ritual cleansing of animal sacrifices thumb their noses at the Messiah. To them, the crucified Christ means nothing. But to us, He is everything. When we sin in thought, word, or deed, we don’t rush to the priest with an animal on a leash; we turn to Christ alone, whose blood paid for all our sins—past, present, and future. Romans 8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

 

Second, we have a reproach to bear (13:11–13). The author makes both a comparison and a contrast between the animal sacrifices of the tabernacle and the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Just as the bodies of the animal sacrifices were burned “outside the camp” as if to banish sin (13:11; see Lev. 16:26–28), Jesus Christ was crucified “outside the gate” of the city of Jerusalem as if he were a sinner (13:12). Similar, too,/ is the fact that both shed their blood and died. However, this is where the similarities end, because the blood of Christ was offered to “sanctify the people” (made holy), while the blood of the animals offered in the holy place could not take away sin (10:4).

The author then draws particular attention to the fact that Christ’s death outside the city gate was a mark of reproach. He was “Counted among the rebels” (Isa. 53:12), though He was innocent of all sin. He suffered the death of one who is cursed (Gal. 3:13), though He was blessed above all. And He endured ridicule and mocking while hanging on the cross (Matt. 27:38–44), though he deserved worship and praise. In the same way, when we, as believers in Christ, stand firm on the unchanging truths of the gospel of Christ’s death and resurrection, we should brace ourselves for similar scorn from a constantly changing world.

 

How easy it would have been for those first-century Jewish believers in Christ to flee from the scorn associated with their devotion to the crucified Messiah! The truth is, the closer we align ourselves—with firm devotion—to the unchanging truths of the faith, the closer we align ourselves with the sufferings Christ endured. We take up the cross of reproach with Him through abuse, misunderstanding, and persecution (Phil. 1:29; 2 Tim. 3:12; 1 Pet. 4:12–19). The rapidly changing world can’t stand a stick-in-the-mud/ that refuses to go with the flow, /to keep up with the latest progressive trend, /or to bend its morals with the breeze of a feel-good philosophy.

 

Third, we have a city to seek (Heb. 13:14). No matter where we live in this world or for how long, we’re still temporary residents of the world as it is today. You could have been born in one country, gone to school in another, moved several times before graduating from college, and worked a job that had you living in different states or nations of the world. It doesn’t matter. Nations, kingdoms, and empires are fleeting (Isa. 40:6–8, 15–17). Lines and names on maps change. We frequently change our latitude and longitude coordinates. But here we do not have an enduring city (Heb. 13:14). This is why we should never forget that we are longing for an unchanging reality grounded in God—“ we are looking for the city that is to come.” (13:14).

 

Fourth, we have a sacrifice to offer (13:15–16). We have no physical, earthly altar … no bloody animal sacrifices … no position worthy of the world’s praise … and no permanent place of earthly citizenship. Does this mean that we have nothing to offer God in our worship? Absolutely not! In 13:15, the author states that we continually offer God a “sacrifice of praise,” which he explains as giving thanks to God. This echoes a similar sentiment from the previous chapter, where we were instructed to “let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.” (12:28).

 

As always, God is more interested in the attitude of the heart, expressed through genuine words and deeds, than in mere external rituals performed by obligation. Beyond praising God and thanksgiving, the text adds “to do good” and “share with others” as aspects of authentic, spiritual worship. In short, God wants all of us, as Paul says, to “ I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” (Rom. 12:1). In this way, we will be transformed into the image of the unchanging Son rather than conformed to the changing patterns of this world (Rom. 12:2).

Fifth, we have leaders to follow (Heb. 13:17). False teaching has its leaders too. The Lord Jesus warned His disciples (Matt. 7:15).  “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves.” Similarly, the apostle Peter cautioned (2 Pet. 2:1). “But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them.” And the disciple John wrote (1 Jn. 4:1). “do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.”

 

Though false teachers had “all kinds of strange teachings” (Heb. 13:9) that differed from each other, we are to, (Jude 1:3), defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.” To contend against these false teachers and promote sound doctrine and right living is laid out in Ephesians 4:11-14, 11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth.

 

It was in reference to these tried-and-true pastors and teachers of the church that the author of Hebrews instructed his audience: Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God (Heb. 13:17). It would be “unprofitable” for the church to rebel against their leaders in disobedience, causing them grief in their God-appointed tasks of teaching and preaching sound doctrine. Why? Because Christ Himself ordained leadership in His body to help it grow and mature. Without these leaders, the church’s growth would be stunted, and its members would be easily led astray into false teaching.

APPLICATION: HEBREWS 13:8–17 – Bulletin Insert

Standing Firm in a Shifting World

In an era when families are as likely to be scattered across the country/ as they are to stay in their hometowns, /when the jobs we trained for in college may not even exist anymore, /and when the childhood our kids and grandkids are experiencing looks nothing like the one we enjoyed, it’s good to know that there are spiritual truths that will never change. /Let's explore three practical principles we can lean on to help us stand firm in a shifting world.

 

First, a changing world reminds us of our need for a changeless Word. Jesus Christ, the Word of God, never changes (Heb. 13:8). And God’s revelation, His word to us, endures forever (Isa. 40:8). Just as navigators in a vast ocean need an immovable point of reference to keep from going off course, we need an unchanging standard to direct the course of our lives. When we encounter confused, misinformed, deceived, or disoriented people who don’t know what to believe or how to live, we should be ready to point them to the unchanging Savior and His eternal message of hope.

Second, a changeless Christ drives out strange doctrine. The temporary rites and rituals of the Old Testament system pointed to the superior person and work of Christ. The continual sacrifices under the Law anticipated the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ for our sins. When we recall that His person and work are final, unchanging, and fixed for eternity, we’ll be...