Some things never change!

Last week I celebrated yet another anniversary of the day of my physical birth (my spiritual rebirth was some 15 years later!). This week, my wife celebrates another anniversary of her physical birth. Tempus fugit (Time flies, for those who missed out on a Classical education!!). 

Last year, we celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary and, in our annual newsletter, I posted two photographs - one taken on Sept. 4th, 1970 (our wedding day!), and the other taken on Sept. 4th, 2020. I have to confess that each of has changed, quite considerably, during the intervening period! Every year; every month; every day; reminds us of the passing of time, and the changes it brings, be they major, or minor. We are changing; the world is changing (and, for many of us, the past ten months, or so, have seen some of the biggest changes that we have ever known); experiences are changing; our lifestyles are changing; the future is unknown! 

I can only speak for myself, but I can hardly believe that we are already more than half-way through the second month of 2021! Of course, like the New Year itself, it is only a mark in time; in the continuous journey of planet Earth around the Sun. Yet time is important to us. 

However, some things never change! Speaking through His prophet, Malachi, and using His Covenant Name, the Almighty Creator of all that is states: "... I, YHWH do not change;" ( 3:6). Writing to the early Jewish disciples of Jesus - Who, of course, is the incarnation of the Father - the anonymous author of the Letter to the Hebrews makes this astounding claim: "Jesus, the Christ - the same yesterday, today, and for ever." (13:8). Those words point us to:

The Unchanging Christ. What He was 2,000 years ago, when He walked this earth, He is today in the timelessness of Glory, and He will be throughout eternity. His atoning sacrifice remains effective for all who come to Him in repentance and faith. He opened the way into the presence of the Father, that even a sinner such as I may enter, and be received by Him - not because of anything that I might seek to claim, but purely because of His love, and grace, and mercy. I am forgiven as much as any of those who are "justified by faith" - in other words, because I have responded, positively, to the offer of salvation that was made at Calvary, the Father treats me "just as if I'd" never sinned at all. My sin is not only forgiven, but also forgotten! Hallelujah! Glory to God!

The Gospel message is the same. His covenant love never changes. His grace remains all-sufficient. His promises continue to be true. He is faithful in times of sorrow and distress, as well as in times of joy and laughter. His Word is the same. His presence, through the third Persona (not a typo! See the chapter on "The Trinity" in my first book - details above!) of the Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, is the same.

But there is also: 

An unchanging commitment. For the disciple of Jesus, that commitment is to worship God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is to proclaim the Gospel - the Good News that I have described, briefly above. It is a commitment to serve Him as He commands. It is a commitment to live my life in such a way that I am a good witness for Him. In His final words to His disciples, before He ascended to the Father, the Lord Jesus said: "... you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8). Please note, that this is not a call to every disciple to be an evangelist; but a command to every disciple to be a witness. There is a big difference but, if you are a disciple of Jesus, then you are (as I am!) a witness. The only question is "Am I a good witness, or a bad witness?" If, like me, you must confess to not being the best you might be, then you may turn to God the Holy Spirit, and seek His sanctifying work in your life.

Then, of course, there is:

An unchanging commission. That commission is recorded for us by Matthew, in his account of the Gospel record. "And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." (Matt 28:18-20).

Now, "... all the world ..." does not exclude your own family; your next-door-neighbour; your friends; your work colleagues; etc. This Great Commission ties in with the commitment to be His witnesses - everywhere, and anywhere.

There are many - myself included - who believe, firmly, that we are in the very last days prior to the Rapture of the true saints of God (there is also a chapter on that subject in the book referred to above. Remember, ALL royalties are sent, directly, to Release International, in support of the persecuted church). That being the case, there should be an urgency in the church. Those who are disciples of Jesus should be earnest in prayer; eager to serve; excited in their (our!) witnessing.

I would claim that, in order to do so, we must stay close to the Saviour, that He may be close to us. Henry Francis Lyte wrote the words of one of the best-known Christian songs: "Abide with me." In the second verse are these words - 
"Change and decay in all around I see:                                                                                                        O Thou Who changest not, abide with me."

May all who read these words know His unchanging presence at all times. It will be for your good, and will bring glory and honour to His Name.