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Hebrews chapter six, and look at verse number 18. Hebrews chapter six, verse number 18. It begins by saying that by two immutable things, the title for the sermon tonight is two immutable things. Two immutable things. Say, what does that mean? What does that two immutable things? What are you talking about? Well, let's just start off, you know, I was just, obviously, you know, Isabel's learning how to drive. She's getting her license. And, you know, she tells me about the different rules that exist, that didn't exist in my time of driving. Like, old drivers turn away, and Isabel will be telling me, ah, that's changed that. You can't drive like that anymore. But like, I don't know any better. It didn't get communicated to me somehow. You know, I don't realize the changes, but I also recall when I was learning how to drive, I remember when I was 16, 17, that there were things that I was doing that my brother, who was seven years older than me, would say, oh, I didn't do that when I was your age. Like, I remember thinking, man, you know, it was so much easier when my brother got his license compared to when I got my license. And then when Isabel was doing her line, trying to learn the rules and all that kind of stuff, I realized, oh, it's even more complicated than it was. What I'm trying to say is that things change. Even road rules change. You know, life is always changing, isn't it? Life is always developing. And one thing you can be sure about when it comes to this world is that it is constantly changing. You know, the standards that people have are constantly changing. You know, things that were once considered right is now considered wrong. The things that were once considered wrong is considered right. I mean, it's just, we live in this changing world. And it can be difficult, right? It can be difficult to live a long life and just feel so unsettled. I remember, again, just the COVID situation, right, that they went through. It kind of blew my mind just how much the world changed. You know, how many rules were being enforced. And it made me feel uncomfortable. It made me feel uneasy. You know, when things are changing, you can feel a little unsettled. Like, you know, there's a lack of stability, a lack of knowing exactly what the future holds or knowing what I can do tomorrow. And it can make you really feel uncomfortable. One of the great things about our God is that our God is an immutable God. Say, what does that mean? The title for the sermon I said was Two Immutable Things. What is it speaking about? Well, let me just give you, well, let's think of the word immutable. Let's think about what that might look like. Now, let's talk about not immutable. Let's talk about what is mutable. And then, you know, you might think, okay, what's mutable? You might be familiar with the, especially when I grew up as a kid, who was very famous, the teenage mutants. Mutants, ninja turtles. And what's the idea of mutants? That's where the idea of mutable comes from. The idea is of a change, right? Those little turtles got thrown into some type of ooze and they became human-like turtles or something, right? They changed, they mutated. Well, that's what mutable means. It means to change, okay? And so, what is immutable, though? Well, it basically means unchangeable, right? Something that never changes. And so, when we think about who God is, God is someone that never changes. And not only is God someone that never changes, but in his characteristics, he has two immutable things. There are two elements of him that never changes. And we saw that there in Hebrews chapter six. Now, before we keep reading, if our world is constantly changing, it makes us feel unsettled. You know, it's great to be a Christian, knowing full well that God never changes. That I can have stability. I know what tomorrow will bring as far as what God is concerned in my life. And then I can have that stability. You know, I can stand strong. And you know, what I believe to be true today in accordance to God's word will be true tomorrow, it'll be true in 10 years, it'll be true in 20 years. You know, what God says is sinful is still gonna be sinful 100 years from now, and it was sinful 100 years before my life, okay? God's word never changes. In fact, that's what we see in this passage. Let's have a look at it again there in Hebrews chapter six, verse number 17. Hebrews chapter six, verse number 17, it says, We're in God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise, God has heirs of promise. He has promised his people certain things, right? And unto the promises, it says here, the immutability of his counsel. So there we get, you know, we said, the title is Two Immutable Things. We see, number one, what is the first immutable thing? His counsel, okay? When you think of the word counsel, you think of the word advice. You know, you might go to someone for counsel, you're seeking some help, you're seeking some advice. Essentially, this is speaking about God's word. Where do we find the counsels of God? Where do we find his statues and his commandments and his way of living? We find that in the word of God. And so very much so we're talking about God's word, God's counsel found within his word, it never changes. This English translation, the King James Bible, it's been 400 years, right? Translated in 1611, it's over 400 years, isn't it? It's not changed, praise God. I can still read this book in 2022, you know, the same words that were translated in 1611 are available to me today. You know what? God's word has existed from the time, at least on this earth, from the time that God used Moses to pen those first five books of the Bible. You know, the words of God are thousands of years old. And God says it will never change. What was true thousands of years ago is still true today. What we learn about man thousands of years ago, we can still learn about ourselves today. God's word never changes. And not only does God's word never change, but God himself, of course, he never changes. Malachi 3 6 says, for I am the Lord, I change not. I change not. God does not change. You know, the teaching, very quickly, it's not this topic, but the teaching of the Trinity. God does not change. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All right? You know, this idea of God in three persons, it's not that God chose to be three persons. God did not choose some time in eternity past to present himself as a father, to present himself as a son, to present himself as a Holy Spirit. You know, in God's mind, he didn't decide, oh, am I gonna show myself to be 100 persons? Am I gonna show myself to be 10 persons? Am I gonna show myself to be two persons? No, God does not change. He's always been Father, Son and Holy Ghost. That is who he is, that's his nature, okay? And God does not change, right? And in fact, even in Hebrews, you're there in Hebrews, if you wanna turn there, Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews 13, verse number eight. Hebrews 13, verse number eight. Hebrews 13, verse eight says, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. Jesus Christ has not changed. You know, we learn about Jesus Christ, the Son of God, meaning he's always been the Son of God. And he'll always be the Son of God. It wasn't that Jesus was the Father at some point in time, decided to become the Son 2,000 years ago, and is now the Holy Spirit like modalism teaches. No, that's ridiculous. Jesus Christ has been the same. God does not change, okay? This is a truth that should come from God's Word, should not be confusing. Our God does not change. Man changes, the opinions of man changes, all right? The standards of man changes, but God never changes. He's given us the immutability of his counsel. Go back to Hebrews chapter six, verse number 17. Hebrews chapter six, verse number 17. What's the second thing that's immutable? Well, after it says immutability of his counsel, it then says, confirmed it by an oath. The next thing that's immutable is God's oath. The oath is another way of saying his promises. Now, this is what's amazing about God. He doesn't change. When he speaks, you know, the words that we have in this book, they will never change, and then God promises that they'll never change. I mean, it's like layer after layer after layer. If God has made a promise, he's never gonna break that promise. Never gonna break that promise. You know, God has given us everlasting life. God will never break the promise. He can't take away everlasting life. You know, I mean, God can't even consider the thought of taking away everlasting life, because he cannot break his promises. Not only that, God cannot lie. As he continues in verse number 18, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie. Impossible for God to lie. Are there some things that God cannot do? Yes, God cannot lie. God cannot change, okay? God is who his nature is. God's word is spoken, and it is established forever. This is the God that we serve. What a great God. You know, we praise God for salvation. That's great, we should do that, but we should just stop and thank God that he never changes. Thank God that what I read in his word today is still true today. It's not changed. Impossible for God to lie. Verse number 18, we might have a strong consolation. Hey, this should console us. In a changing world, in an unsettled world, it should console us that God never changes. It should console us that his word never changes, that his promises never change. He says, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor to the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. Isn't that amazing? That because God is immutable, because he has these two immutable qualities about himself, that we have an anchor to our soul. We don't have to change. We don't have to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, right? You know, once we see and we learn a truth of God's word, we can stay upon that truth and we know it's always gonna remain the same. Regardless of what the world tells us, God's word never changes. And he's our refuge, he's our rock, he's our place of stability, he's our anchor where our anchor can lay upon his word, upon the rock of who he is and be sure in a changing world. I'll quickly read to you from Titus chapter one verse two. In hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. God cannot lie because he promised. His oath is immutable. His promises never change. I have everlasting life. I mean, just the definition of everlasting, it lasts forever, I have it. But the fact that it's been promised to us means it can never be taken away. God cannot change his mind about this. You cannot, you can never be too sinful to lose salvation because you were never good enough to get it in the first place. It was there about you, wasn't it? It was about Jesus Christ. It was about what he offered us. The title for the sermon once again is Two Immutable Things, Two Immutable Things. And I hope that at the end of this sermon, you feel a little bit more secure, more sure, more, you know, and we know these truths. You know, it's not things that we don't already know, but we need to be reminded from time to time in a changing world, you know, that we can stand sure, we can anchor ourself upon our Lord God. The first thing that we saw was God's counsel, God's advice. Can you please turn to Proverbs chapter one, turn to Proverbs chapter one. And while you're turning to Proverbs chapter one, I'll just read some other passages to you. Because where is God's counsel found? Again, in his word, amen. We go to God's word, Lord, we need some instruction, we need some guidance. Lord, I'm gonna go to your word, please direct me, please teach me, please answer the questions that I have, Lord, I wanna come to your word and learn what you have to teach me. Lord, I'm gonna go to church tonight so I can learn something from your word that will teach me great truths. You know, the book of Isaiah, Isaiah, you guys are turning to Proverbs, go to Proverbs chapter one. But Isaiah chapter 40 verse eight says, the grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. The word of our God shall stand forever. Listen, our Bibles will always be here. It's not going to change, praise God. Hey, we stand on the King James Bible as the English translation, as a perfect translation of God's word. We can stand sure upon this. That's amazing, you know, the grass withereth. Like, we're coming into spring now, aren't we? Tomorrow, tomorrow's the first day of spring, isn't it? September 1st. You know, we're gonna start to see the grass growing a little faster. We're gonna, you've probably already observed, you know, the flowers growing on the trees. And it's beautiful to look at, but then we know that when the seasons change, those flowers fall, right? And the grass gets cut and it grows. Hey, our environment's constantly changing, but God's word never changes. That's why in season, out of season, doesn't matter. You know, God's word's still true, still the same. We need to preach the whole counsel of God. Psalm 119 verse 89 says, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Wow. Thy word is settled in heaven forever, O Lord. You say, what if, you know, what if some wicked powers, some wicked government tries to take God's word away from us? I don't think it's possible in this day and age anyway, the digital technology. Even if you try to take the physical Bibles, you know, there's internet, there's, all right, there's all kinds of ways of communicating. The Bible's out there. I don't think it's even possible to stop God's word these days, even on this earth. But even if there was a wicked government that tried to take all our Bibles away, God's word is established in heaven, okay? You know, it's readable in heaven. When we go to heaven to be with God, you might not take your, you won't take your physical Bible with you. There'll be plenty of Bibles to read in heaven, don't worry. It's established in heaven, okay? It's what's amazing. You know, even though God's word is already in heaven, God still used men upon this earth as his Holy Ghost moved these men to write these words. They wrote the same words that are already found in heaven. These truly are, this truly is the word of God, the counsel of God that we find. Look at Proverbs chapter one, verse number five. Proverbs chapter five, verse number one, sorry. Proverbs one, verse number five, sorry guys. Proverbs one, verse five. Bible says, a wise man will hear and will increase learning and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels. Wise counsels, all right? Yes, you know, sometimes we need advice. Sometimes we need counsel. You know what counsel you need to go to? The wise counsel, the wise counsel, okay? Look, if you need to go to another human being for some advice, I understand. I understand if you need to talk to someone, make sure you go to someone that is considered wise, okay? I'm not saying wise in this world, because the world changes, we already know that, all right? Not wise in philosophies of man, because the philosophies change. Not necessarily even wise in the sciences, because even the sciences change as the years go by. You know what, if we're gonna look for counsel, we wanna go to a place where the counsel is true today and it's going to be true tomorrow and it's gonna be true 10 years from now and it's still gonna be true 100 years from now. The only place where you're gonna find that wise counsel, brethren, is God's word, all right? Or you find someone who's mature in the Christian faith, someone that knows God's word very well and you're struggling yourself, perhaps, to find an answer to your situation, then you might wanna approach that person that you consider wise in the counsel of God, right? To help you, to give you some answers or some direction in life. We continue there in verse number six, Proverbs 1 verse six, to understand, why do we go to wise counsels? To understand a proverb and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. So what do we start with? If we wanna receive the counsels of God, what do we start with? Again, the fear of the Lord. This topic of the fear of the Lord is so important. You know, it's something that has changed my life, actually fearing God, understanding that God is a God that can judge me quite severely. If I'm completely out of line, if I'm completely walking away from His will and His ways, God will step in and correct me. That brings fear in my heart, right? I mean, for someone to be saved, there ought to be a healthy fear, right? Of not knowing what the future holds, not knowing what eternity holds. Not knowing if they're gonna spend eternity in heaven or hell. You know, what will God do with me when I stand before Him? That fear ought to drive someone to seek Him and learn salvation, receive salvation by faith. The fear of the Lord is so important, so practical. You know, if we wanna improve in wisdom, gain counsel, we have to have a good fear of God, all right? And say, Lord, I don't wanna step out of line. Help me to do better in my life. Lord, help me fulfill Your will in my life. Lord, please, you know, I have a will, we all have a will. I know sometimes my will is contrary to yours. Lord, please change my mind. Please help me, you know, anchor myself in the truth of your counsels. That never changes. It's the best thing. Because, you know, if you receive as a child, let's say you're 10 years old, you know, and you see God's counsel and you walk by that path, it's gonna profit you when you're 15, it's gonna profit you when you're 20, it's gonna profit you when you're 50, it's gonna profit you all the days of your life because it doesn't change. But you know what? You know, you grow up and you hear the counsel of men and that's just constantly evolving, constantly changing. You never know what's right or wrong. I started with the example of Isabel doing, you know, getting her hours, getting her hours trying to learn how to drive. You know, she's going to the driving instructor, driving instructor, you know, has given us some advice or do this and then the next day she goes, the driving instructor said, actually do this instead. I say, well, which one's right? I don't know. Because even then, the counsel of men, the advice of men can change, right? We just don't know all the time. But God's word never changes, God's counsel never changes. Please turn with me to another passage, Revelation chapter three, verse 18. Revelation chapter three, verse 18. Let me give you some counsel of God to us tonight here in Revelation chapter three, verse 18. Revelation chapter three, verse 18 says, these are the words of Jesus, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire. All right, so what is God counseling you to do right now? To buy of him some gold, some gold that is tried in the fire. Hey, we know what we're talking about there. We're talking about gold, silver, precious stones. When the fire passes by, that that will remain, those rewards that we receive in heaven. God wants us to lay up our treasures in heaven. God wants us to have our perspective on eternity, all right? To be serving the Lord, focusing on the future to come. You want God's counsel? Then change your perspective from just an earthly, carnal perspective and look at eternity. Lay up your treasures in heaven. What else does he want from us? That thou mayest be rich. Okay, God wants us to be rich in heaven, amen. And white raiment. What else do you need to buy? Some white raiment, okay? Now look, if you're saved, you've been clothed in the righteousness of Christ, okay? We know that positionally we're right with God, but we know that our walk is not always perfect. We know that as we walk through life, we get a bit of the mud of this earth. We commit sins. You know, we don't respond to situations the way that God would want us to respond to. We get a bit of dirt on our feet. We get a little bit dirty, don't we? And listen, that white raiment needs to be washed. We need to go before God and confess our sins and say, God, I'm sorry. Let me do it right next time. Please forgive me. Right? Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner. And clean that white raiment, okay? Because we want to be in fellowship with God. That's what God counsels you, to be in fellowship with him, to walk with him. It says that thou mayest be clothed and that the shame of thine nakedness do not appear. Then he says, and I anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see. God wants us to fix our vision, all right? You know, we all have cataracts. We all have blindness. Again, it's the counsel of the world, the things that always change. It makes it hard to see. It makes it hard to understand. God wants us to apply the washing of his word upon our eyes. You know, this is what we look at. Say, okay, we're going to interpret the world through the lens of God's word. That's how we see clearer. We understand, right? We look at the counsel and go, say, Lord, this is what, your word says this. I'm going to walk in accordance to your word. It's going to help me see clearer. It's going to get rid of those spiritual cataracts that I have in my eyes. You want some counsel? Start applying these things, okay? Eternity in mind. Be in fellowship with God. Wash your minds, wash your eyes with God's word. Get rid of the brainwashing that you receive from this world. We've all been brainwashed. Even I know I've been brainwashed by this world. I know it, and look, I don't even necessarily know, because that's how brainwashed I am. I don't even necessarily know what some of that brainwashing is, okay? But the more I learn God's word, the more I can unprogram myself and wash myself. Yeah, brainwash myself with God's word, all right? So I can see clearly. I can understand the world for what it is. Look at what God says in verse number 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Yeah, God's given us counsel, all right? If we don't apply this counsel, we'll expect God to rebuke you and to chasten you, okay? And when you go through that rebuke and chastening, Jesus just reminds you that he loves you, okay? He loves you when you go through these difficulties, because our hearts wander away from the Lord, don't they? Our hearts don't look for the counsel of God all the time. We seek our own. We think we're wise. We think we're wiser than God many times, you know? And yeah, but you know, if you've been chastened and rebuked by God, just remind yourself, God loves you. He wants you to repent. He wants you to take his counsel and walk according to his path. All right, can you please turn to Romans chapter one? Turn to Romans chapter one. We looked at the first immutable thing. The first immutable thing was God's counsel, God's advice, God's words, all right? Again, these things you know. I'm not telling you anything that you don't already know. But in Romans chapter one, verse one. So the next immutable thing was God's oath or God's promises. Now God gives us a lot of promises in his word. Do you believe his promises though? Do you trust those promises? And look, I hope you guys realize I try to be very honest with you, you know? Because I remember just being a regular churchgoer, sitting in the pew, listening to the preacher talk about God's love and God's promises. I'm like, I don't know. I don't know. I mean, I'm saved, I love the Lord, but I just don't know if everything really, if everything God promises in the Bible, is that really gonna come true for me? I don't know. And so because I've experienced that, when I talk about God's promises, that God promises will never change, they're immutable, they're gonna come to fruition, I have no doubt that someone in the congregation, maybe all of you, maybe some of you, maybe many of you, that would be like, I just don't know about that, pastor. I know what you're saying is coming from God's word, but I just don't see how this applies to my life. It happens, right? Because we're just human beings and we lack faith sometimes. And you know, again, we get brainwashed or whatever. We just don't always know whether what God promised will come to be. But one thing that we see that God promises here in Romans chapter one, verse one, let's read it. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto, look at this, the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures. You know why you can trust God's promises? Because God had promised afore, or in the past times, by the prophets and by his holy scriptures, the gospel of God. He's promised us his gospel, the good news of salvation. Verse number three, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. And then he goes on about Christ's resurrection. But God has promised us in times past the gospel. He promised us that his son will come to die on the cross, that he would be resurrected from the dead, and that we would have salvation. Can you trust the promises of God? Well, you've trusted to be saved, haven't you? You trusted that if I put my faith in Jesus, in his resurrection, then I'm gonna have salvation. That promise is true. Listen, think about what God had to give to fulfill his promise. I know that we've all made promises, and we've broken some of them. God promised us salvation. God promised us good news. He promised us deliverance. What did he have to do to fulfill that? To sacrifice his son, all right? For Jesus to become sin for us, who knew no sin, to become the curse for us, to take on all the filthy things that we've done, to be put upon himself, and to deal with the wrath and judgment that came from God the Father. I mean, this is how far God would go to fulfill his promises, that he would even sacrifice his own son. And then we turn around and go, I don't know if God can keep his promises. He's already sacrificed his son to keep his promises. God will do everything to keep to his word. God does not change. God cannot lie. He gave his son. And when we remind ourselves of this, and again, we know these things, right? So we just have to stop and consider that. You've gone so far. If I made a promise, and it cost me my son, I'd probably go, you know what? I'm gonna break that promise. As a human being, I would do that, but God, no, he went all the way. Jesus Christ went all the way. He loved us that much. And if he's willing to die for our sins, then all the other promises that are in the Bible must be true. They must be true. God must fulfill his promises. If he's already fulfilled this promise, and you've received it, you've accepted Christ as your savior. And you know you're saved. You know that the moment you pass on, you're gonna be in eternity with God. So if that's true, and you know that to be true, then you know what? Everything else, all the other promises that God gives us in his word, must be true. Must be true. All right? Galatians, I'll just read it to you. If you can turn to 2 Peter, turn to 2 Peter. Galatians 3, 13. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, look at this, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. You know what else you've got? What else has God promised you? His Spirit. The moment you got saved, you now have the Holy Spirit of God. Remember, God in three persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives within you, indwells your heart today, teaches you God's word. You know? Speaks to your spirit, touches your conscience, opens your understanding of God's word. Holy Spirit, this is the promise of God. God's already fulfilled his promises. We're living proof of those promises, aren't we? We're living proof that God's promises come to be. Second Peter chapter one, verse two. Second Peter chapter one, verse two. What are the next, this next promise is, I would say it's unbelievable, but then I'm going against what I've just said. No, we need to believe his promises. I can understand why it might be considered unbelievable, right? But no, we need to believe the promises of God. Second Peter chapter one, verse two. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power. Now I won't stop the divine power. You know, when you think of the divine, of course divinity speaks of God, all right? Divine power have given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that have called us to glory and virtue. God has called you to glory and to virtue. Look at verse number four. Whereby are given unto us, look at this, exceeding great and precious promises. Let's stop there for a moment, okay? Exceeding, that's what I'm saying. It's almost unbelievable. You know, it's so great, it's so amazing, these promises that God has given us. What is this great and precious promise? Let's keep reading. That by these ye, you brethren, ye might be partakers of the divine nature. Think about that. Having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, he's promised us to partake of God's divine nature. I mean, that should blow your minds right there, right? His divine nature. God's going to impart some of his glory upon us in a future to come, a real future. This is a real promise, an exceedingly great promise, okay? And again, what is that? It's the new resurrected bodies, you know? Like unto Christ, like unto Christ's resurrection. Bodies that can never sin. And I think we don't really fully understand what that's going to be like. Because when I talk to a lot of Christians, they kind of think of the resurrected body as a body that might be similar to Adam and Eve's. Because Adam and Eve, when they were created, they were without sin. No, no, no, no, no. This is much better than Adam and Eve's body. Because Adam and Eve, they could sin. They obviously did sin, okay? Obviously, there was an area of failing there that they could fall into, okay? The bodies that we receive can never sin, okay? Can never sin, never be corrupted. They'll live forever. And upon those bodies, we're going to be partakers of that divine nature. It's amazing. We can't even, you know, I almost don't even want to say it. Because I don't want to be misunderstood. I'm not trying to say we're going to become gods, or a god. But just of who he is, that nature, instead of a fallen human being nature, we're going to receive in bodies like Christ's resurrected body. It's amazing, just think about that. It's a promise. It's not like, I don't know, you know, I'm just living now for an hour. This is going to be your body for all eternity. You're going to be able to function through this body, okay? And just do amazing works for the Lord. These are promises that God has given us, all right? Now look, if he's come through his promises of salvation, he's come through his promise that we have the Holy Spirit live in us, he's going to come through this promise of this new resurrected body, okay? Even if you die before the rapture, people say, I want to make it to the rapture, we're all going to make it to the rapture, don't worry about it, okay? In fact, if you pass away before the rapture, you get to go up first, okay? So don't worry, nobody misses out, okay? Nobody misses out on this new resurrected body, so long as you've trusted Christ as Savior. Please go to 2 Peter 3, 2 Peter 3, verse number 3. Again, with eternity in mind, okay? With eternity in mind. Because you're like, well, I don't know, you know, is this really going to happen? I remember, I've told you guys this story many times, because it had an effect on my life. If I went to my pastor and said, remember you said this pastor, he'd be like, I don't think I said that. But one of my old pastors, you know, back in mid-2000s, I can't remember exactly when, okay, you know, was preaching, he goes, you know what, I'll be surprised that if Christ doesn't come back within the next five years, you know, like he's just fully expecting, he's looking at the world, how corrupt, how evil it's becoming, you know, how technology's changing. I'll be surprised if Christ doesn't come back. It's not state setting, right? And like, you know me, as a churchgoer, I look at my pastor, you know, you're a wise man, you love the Lord, you're a pastor, I guess I won't bother becoming a pastor myself, because Christ's going to come back in five years, you know, I'm not going to have time. I'm not going to have time to admit the qualifications, to go and start a church, so I'll just be happy to stay here, right? And forget where I'm going with that. Oh yeah, so, you know, and so some people sometimes might turn around and say, well, where is Jesus? Shouldn't he have come back by now? Right? And that's why we get to this point, in second Peter chapter three, verse three, that says, knowing this first, that they shall come in the last day scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, where is the promise of his coming? You see, as we get closer to the end, there are going to be people saying to us, that you can't trust the promises of God. And I guess I'm preaching this, just to remind you that you can. That this is immutable, unchangeable. Christ is coming back. Christ will give us new resurrected bodies. Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God, the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire by the day of judgment and petition of ungodly men, but beloved, but beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Look at verse number nine. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise. God is not slack. All right, men, I'm gonna be there Thursday for coffee, and I don't come. You know what, I'm slack concerning my promise. I try not to promise, but you know, I'm being slack about that, aren't I? You know what, but God is not slack concerning his promise. Jesus Christ says where two or three are gathered in his name, there he is in the midst of them. That's his promise. You know where Jesus Christ is right now? Right here, seated in one of these chairs. His presence is here right now. Okay, we don't come to church just to hear some crazy preacher, crazy pastor Kevin. We wanna be in the presence of Jesus. We wanna serve Christ, this is his body. When we serve each other, we're serving Christ. These are the promises, Christ is here. Church is important. Sorry, what am I reading? Verse number nine. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but his long suffering to us would, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Why has Christ not returned? Because Christ is giving people time. He's not willing that any should perish. He wants more people saved. He wants more people to come into his kingdom. That's why we're here though, aren't we? Why hasn't Christ come, I just wish I was in heaven right now, well you're here now. You're here because Christ is not slack concerning his promise. He wants to come back, he wants to give us the resurrection, the millennium to come, but he wants more people to come into that kingdom. And he's gonna use us to make that happen. We want more people that live in the Sunshine Coast to be saved. It's gotta come from us. We gotta be the ones that are used, okay? God has given more time for us to be used to bring people into salvation. All right, please turn to another passage. Turn to Judges chapter 20. Turn to Judges chapter 20. And this is the last passage that we're gonna be looking at. Judges chapter 20. So essentially what I've been teaching so far is the theory, okay? That God does not change, his counsel never changes, his oath never changes, it's immutable. So how do we apply that today? Because like I said, I'm preaching stuff, oh yeah I know that pastor, you know, but I don't know. There are promises and I've tried to do them, it just hasn't happened. You know, I've seen things in God's word, I've gone to God and I've said, Lord yes I believe this, I wanna do this, and it just seems like God's not coming through on the other side. What's the problem then? Am I the problem? Sometimes we're the problem, okay? But there's something I really want you to learn and I'm gonna keep teaching this truth over and over again in different ways, in different ways, all right? And we're gonna look at Judges chapter 20 verse 18. This is, let me give you a quick backdrop. But this is a story where there were several sodomites, several reprobates in the land of Benjamin and they ended up committing this mass rape upon this woman and she died from that rape overnight, okay? I won't go into all those details, but essentially the other tribes of Israel, they realised just how wicked Benjamin, the tribe of Benjamin had become. And you know what? They decided we need to do something about this, we need to go and fix them up, we need to go and slaughter these wicked people, okay? And so the other tribes, they come together to figure out, all right, should we do this? How do we do this? And then they go, you know what? Let's go and seek the counsel of God. Isn't that what we wanna do? We're not sure, should we do this? And when you're not sure, you should go and seek God's counsel, okay? And what happens here in the Judges chapter 20 verse 18? And the children of Israel rose and went up to the house of God. That's the tabernacle. And asked counsel of God. There it is, asked counsel of God. And said, which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up first. So is God counseling them to go and fight against the Benjaminites? Absolutely, go all right, Judah, you go up first, all right? So he's given that counsel. Verse number 19. And the children of Israel rose up in the morning and encamped against Gibeah. And the men of Israel went out to battle against Benjamin. And the men of Israel put themselves in a ray to fight against them at Gibeah. And the children of Benjamin, so basically the Israelites, they've chosen Gibeah as the main place for this battle. They're setting themselves up here. This is where we're going to win or perish, is their attitude, okay? These are their tactics. Verse number 21. And the children of Benjamin came forth out of Gibeah and destroyed down to the ground of the Israelites. That day, 20 and 2,000 men. So the Israelites lose the battle. Benjamin wins the battle. But they're the wicked tribe. God said, yeah, go and fight them. And they lose. And this happens sometimes in life. You know, you go to God's counsel, you say, yeah, I'm gonna do what God says. Well, God, you promised me this, and you might feel like God's not coming through on the other side. All right, so what do you do? So hold on, this is, you know, what do we do? We'll look at verse number 22. And the people, sorry, and the people, the men of Israel, encourage themselves, that's what you should do, all right? If you feel like there's, you know, God's not seemingly coming through, encourage yourself and set the battle again in array in the place where they put themselves in array the first day, meaning that like, they say, all right, no, we're gonna do this again. All right, let's go back to Gibeah. Let's fight again, all right? Let's set ourselves up here. So we're gonna make the same decision that we did last time. And then it says in verse number 23, and the children of Israel went up and wept before the Lord until even, look at this, and asked counsel of the Lord, saying, shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brother? And the Lord said, go up against him. So again, they're not sure, hold on, we lost. Let's go ask God again. God, should we really go up and fight against the Benjamites? God says, yes, go. But there's a counsel again the second time. The same counsel, right? God's counsel is immutable. It doesn't change. Of course God is gonna say, yeah, go and fight again. Verse number 24, and the children of Israel came near against the children of Benjamin the second day. And Benjamin went forth against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed down to the ground of the children of Israel, again, 18,000 men. All these drew the sword. Again, the Israelites lose. Again, the wicked tribe of Benjamin win. Now, hold on, God, this is the second time we sought your counsel. This is the second time you've said the same thing, Lord, and we lost again. I don't know, I reckon there's probably someone in this church, maybe several of you, that feel this way. Lord, I'm doing what you tell me to do, but it's not coming together. Lord, I'm trying to raise my kids in the nurture and admission of the Lord, they just seem not interested. Lord, I'm trying to love my wife, and all the wives, Lord, I'm trying to submit to my husband, but it just seems like our marriage doesn't get fixed. Right? There are so many things in God's word that we try to apply. And you know what? The lesson that we learn, the first lesson that we learn here, is that it takes time. God is not slack concerning his promise. God is not slack, okay? Sometimes you just need to be patient. You need to increase in your faith. You need to encourage yourself that God is gonna come through. That if I just do what God says, God will answer me. God will answer my prayer. God will fulfill his side of the promise. You just have to try again, is what I'm trying to say. Because God's counsel does not change. It's immutable. All right? Verse number 24. Now what am I up to, brethren? Sorry. Verse number 26. Then all the children of Israel and all the people went up and came unto the house of God and wept and sat there before the Lord and fasted that day until even. So now they're applying fasting, not just weeping. All right? So fasting, hey, that adds extra power. That answers extra prayers. Fasted that day until even and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. So they're like, man, maybe we should need to offer the, maybe we're not right with God. So let's just start offering sacrifices. Let's make ourselves right with God. Maybe that's the problem. Verse number 27. And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. So again, they sought his counsel. For the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days. And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days, saying, shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin and my brother or shall I cease? Look at this. And the Lord said, go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thine hand. So God said, third time, yep, go up. This time, you'll win. This time. Okay? Now why though, why? Have you ever asked that question? You guys probably know this story quite well. Why are they gonna win this time? Well, let's keep going. Let's keep going on this story. Verse number 29. And Israel set liars, that's people that are lying in wait, okay, not telling fibs. Set liars in wait round about Gibeah. So what's Israel doing now? They're changing tactics. All right? So they go back to Gibeah. Yeah, we're gonna start fighting in Gibeah like they've done before, but this time we're gonna have other people, other soldiers, lying around Gibeah. Okay? We're gonna change our tactics. Tactics didn't work the first time, they didn't work the second time. Let's try to change tactics. All right? Verse number 30. And the children of Israel went up against the children of Benjamin on the third day and put themselves in array against Gibeah as at other times. So again, they're fighting from Gibeah, right? But this time they've got other soldiers that are kind of hidden, lying in wait, right? Verse number 31. And the children of Benjamin went out against the people and were drawn away from the city and they began to smite other people and kill as at other times in the highways of which one goeth up to the house of God and the other to Gibeah in the field about 30 men of Israel. So again, seemingly this third time, the child of Benjamin are winning, at least the very beginning of this battle. Verse number 32. And the children of Benjamin said, they are smitten down before us as at the first. So they're like, hey, they're losing again, just like the first time, just like the second time. I'm gonna win this again. But the children of Israel said, let us flee and draw them from the city onto the highways. Again, a tactical change. Let's retreat. Let's bring them out further away from their cities, away from their protection. Why? Because they had other soldiers lying in wait. Remember that? Okay? Verse number 33. And all the men of Israel rose up out of their place and put themselves in a ray at Baal-Tama. And the lies in wait, those are the other soldiers, of Israel came forth out of their places, even out of the meadows of Gibeah, and there came against Gibeah 10,000 chosen men out of all Israel, and the battle was sore, but they knew not that evil was near them. And the Lord smote Benjamin before Israel, and the children of Israel destroyed the Benjaminites that day, 20 and 5,100 men, all these drew the sword. So the Israelites win the third time. It says here, and the Lord smote Benjamin. The Lord came through and fulfilled his promise. God gave them counsel. Hey, they lost the first couple of times, but attempted number three, they win. God comes through the promises. But notice, they changed tactics. They changed tactics. This is so important, so important. Why does it sometimes seemingly look like that God's not coming through for you? And I'm harping on about this again and again and again, just in different ways, all right? We're all different. We're all different. We all have different families, okay? There are different ways of doing things. You know what, if God tells you husbands love your wives, and you're saying, well, Lord, I'm going to work every day, my wife just doesn't seem to want to submit, change your tactic. Maybe you need to buy some flowers on the way home, right? Maybe you need to take her out for dinner. Maybe you just need to put the kids, dump them at the grandparents, and have a good long conversation with your spouse. You need to change tactics. You can't upload one family's life and download it into your life and think it's going to work. God's counsel is there. How do I raise my children? You raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. But there are many ways of doing this. If it's not working for you, change tactics. But do what God's asked of you. Look, God told them, go and fight Benjamin. But God did not say to them, hey, camp out in Gibeah. He did not tell them what tactics to use. They had to figure that out for themselves. As long as they're following God's counsel, then God came through with a promise. Sometimes you need to change tactics. Why does this work for Pastor Kevin? Doesn't work for me. Change tactics. We're different. Just stay within God's word. Follow his counsel. God's counsel many times is very, you know, what's the word I'm looking for? Very, very broad, open, because our situations are different. I've been saved at a very young age. Some of you have been saved very recently. All right, I've seen God's promises. I've seen them. They're true. They're true. Okay, I've told you, you know, when I got married to my wife, the doctor said we would not be able to have kids. Physically, my wife would not be able to have kids. You know what? God came through with his promises. God didn't. Other people don't have to worry about that. They fall pregnant on the honeymoon, okay? We're all different. Different challenges, different situations, different personalities, all right? But you just see it through. You know, and I've used the example before. God says to chastise your children. Take that rod of correction. How many smacks? It doesn't matter. Work it out how that's gonna work for your family. Let's say I do one smack. Let's say one smack does not work for my kid. He's more stubborn. Okay, two then. Change tactics. Just do what God's asked you to do, and you'll come through. You know, homeschooling. Again, these are just examples I've used, right? But I see mothers that want to homeschool. So yes, you know what? I want to be in charge of my children's education. Let's do it like this person. Let's do it like that person. No, wrong. You took them out of school because you didn't want them to be uniform. You didn't want to do exactly the same thing, but you want to do exactly the same thing as another family. It blows my mind. Different families, different situations, different tactics. Okay? Do what God's asked from you. If you're doing what he says, and it just doesn't seem to be coming through, we just seem to be losing, pastor. First time I did it, it doesn't come through. God promises they're not real. Change tactics. Don't copy someone else. Stop following man, and start following what God's asked you to do. Figure out what he wants you to do in life. There's so many ways to teach this truth, but it's so important, I find. Because if you're just following man, if you're just following some other family, how this family does it, how that family, how that pastor does it, how that church does it, then look, you're going to find yourself failing once, twice, three times, seemingly the Benjamites keep winning. Just change your approach. If God's promised, it's going to come through. It's true, it's real, okay? Just be patient, and figure out what you need to do in life to see God's promises come true in your life. Okay, let's pray.