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[0:00] Welcome to our service this evening as we come before God in worship we pray that he will bless his word to us.

[0:19] We are going to begin by singing from Psalm 90. Psalm 90 at the beginning of the psalm verses 1 to 7.

[0:53] Psalm 90.

[1:23] Psalm 90. For by thy anger we are consumed, thy wrath makes us afraid. And so on. We can sing these verses.

[1:35] Psalm 90 from the beginning. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in generations more. Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in generations more.

[2:01] Before thou ever hast brought forth, the mountains taken us home.

[2:18] The earth, thou hast been our dwelling place in generations more.

[2:36] In thy home ever-lasting heart. In thy home ever-lasting heart.

[2:47] To thy everlasting heart. Thy death, thou hast been our dwelling place in the future. The earth, thou hast been our dwelling place in the future.

[3:02] Our chilli. The慢慢 life-centered, the mountains taken us home. As you now heard, thy grace from the land.

[3:14] And unto them are saved again, His sons of men return.

[3:33] Because the poison here shall be. No more before Christ's eye.

[3:51] Than yesterday when it is past.

[4:02] On the water by night. As with an overflowing love.

[4:20] The guise dem away. There I can sleep.

[4:34] Like the grass. That grows at morn. My arへ.

[4:47] At morning blood. In chances of faint.

[4:58] That dyna do. And how Ruination Start together in prayer.

[5:31] Lord oh God as we call upon you may we offer to you the thanks of our heart for the words that we have been singing words that are so poignant and so expressive of what our life was like. When we hear the words of your servant the psalmist who reflects on a lifetime and even countless lifetimes he sees the passage of time as something that is so awesome as it is reckoned a thousand years and nothing more than a watch by night asleep a momentary blip on the scene of time yet we think of our days and we number them and we reckon them and we watch our years and we mark them and we celebrate them and all of a sudden our celebrations are a reminder to us of the brevity of our humanity the world that was so roistered as it is proverbially stated this place that we were so fixed in becomes a place that is simply a marker for memories not ours but someone else's when we think of those that have gone before us before us in this world not those that were well known enough to have their days recorded in biographies or of such such self-import that they wrote their own record of their life but thinking of the lives that we have known and the lives that we have lived alongside and these are no longer a part of our everyday experience but fading memories and it reminds us of the need that we have to make use even as we were reminded of today of the time that we have in this world and that we would live our lives profitably and that we would live them so that whatever is recorded regarding our lives that part of that record would contain within it that we came to know the Lord Jesus Christ as the saviour of our souls whatever else we have done or left undone is of little import in comparison to what impinges on the return of destiny so we pray for the significance of

[9:31] your servant's words to dwell in our hearts and to stir up our minds and to grant to us the impetus and the desire to to avail ourselves of the opportunity of the opportunity that we have while it is ours we pray your blessing upon those who have spent this day well those who reckon this day to be a day given to them by the Lord that this is the day that the Lord has made and they have rejoiced and been glad in it it is a day that has seen it the fragrance of a risen saviour who gave to the Old Testament church a memorial of the rest of the creator you gave to the New Testament church a memorial of the eternal rest that has assured your people by reason of the finished work of Jesus

[10:42] Christ we bless you and thank you for all who have been able to take their rest from what is legitimate on ordinary days and days that are meant to be spent and meant to be lived to the utmost of our ability but for this day that is the Lord's may we reckon all that we have given to him to be profitable and may he in return profit our souls as he enlightens our minds in his knowledge we pray your blessing on all that is done in his name to the ends of the earth today all that have endeavoured to stand up in pulpits and in fellowship throughout the land and throughout the countries of this world and to declare to men and women young and old alike the gospel of his grace and to speak lovingly and longingly to their souls deciding nothing less than that their souls would be one for

[12:00] Christ may your word have that end so that not one would go out from under the sound of the gospel today wherever it is that they would know that they were in the presence of God and in the presence of his son and in the presence of his spirit and in the company of a people who know the ministry of the triune God we pray that you would bless all that are undergoing trying testings in this world of the present we remember your church as it is tested and tried we pray for all who form part of it and who find themselves persecuted for the name that they bear we pray for those who through no fault of them all of their own they are found to be victims of circumstance in different parts of the world numbered amongst those who are destitute and driven numbered amongst those who are deprived of property and all the creature comforts that we have so much of that we do not deserve any more than they may we acknowledge in your presence your goodness and your grace to us every day of our life bless our homes our families young and old amongst us may they know the blessing of

[13:38] God even that blessing that enriches and leaves none without a sense of their privilege in being ministered to by God in heaven we pray for your blessing upon the sick and the suffering the aged and the infirm those housebound hospitalized cared for by others because of their own inability to care for themselves remember all who fall in the professions that are the caring professions nurses and doctors and carers of all descriptions those who selflessly care for loved ones within their homes we pray that you would remember them and uphold them and enable them to fulfill the sick that is our calling from on high we pray for your blessing upon the grieving and the sorrowful you inflict wounds upon us from time to pride high in reminding us that loved ones are our special privilege to have and to hold and to value but only for a short time and soon every one of us at some point will experience such loss and such grief and such heartache and only the binding of these wounds by your own hand will truly alleviate the suffering that can be resurrected at a moment soon after even in ways that are sometimes beyond our understanding but teach us to number our days as we said even as you speak to us through the demise of others remember the sinsic world in which we live those who govern us within it those who have been given special responsibilities within the nations of the earth their own parliaments westminster and hollywood our own local council which is soon to be newly formed we pray that you would guide all who have taken these responsibilities upon themselves and that they may do all that is in their power for the good of others and not their own glory continue to watch over us as a nation forgive many transgressions we deserve not the least of your favors yet you show blessing upon blessing upon us however much we decry the poverty of the age where we see so many fearful about suffering destitution and the pressures that are brought to bear upon homes and families yet we know that there are harder days still and there were times when even within these islands through destitution and poverty was witnessed and experienced and the only solution to all of these things was not to apply to any man or any woman or any creature but to

[17:07] God above and you supplied often the want of those who came and spread their hands before you we have spiritual want and we spread our hands before you may you pour out blessing upon us continue to watch over as we pray cleansing from sin in Jesus name amen we are going to read from the scriptures of the new testament we are reading from the epistle to the Hebrews and the last chapter Hebrews chapter 13 Hebrews chapter 13 we are going to read the whole chapter let brotherly love continue be not forgetful to entertain strangers for thereby some have entertained angels unawares remember them that are in bonds as bound with them and them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body marriage is honourable in all and the bed undefiled but who mongers and adulterers

[18:24] God will judge let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as he have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do unto me remember them which have the rule over you who have spoken unto you the word God whose faith follow considering the end of their conversation Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever be be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines for it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace not with meats which have not profited them that have been occupied therein we we we have an altar whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle for the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin are burned without the camp wherefore

[19:34] Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without the gate let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach for here we have no continuing city but we seek one to come by him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name but to do good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you pray for us for we trust we have a good conscience in all things willing to live honestly but

[20:40] I beseech you rather to do this that I may be restored to you the sooner now the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen may may the

[21:43] Lord that his blessing to the greeting of his word and his name be the praise we're going to sing from psalm 102 the second version of the psalm and at psalm 19 down to the end psalm 102 at psalm 19 he from his holy place looked down the earth he viewed from heaven on high to hear the prisoners mourning groan and free them that are doomed to die that Zion and Jerusalem to his name and praise may well record when people and the kingdoms do assemble all to praise the Lord my strength he weakened in the way my days of life he shortened my God oh take me not away in midtime of my days

[22:45] I said thy years throughout all ages last of old thou hast established the earth's foundation firm and fast thy mighty hands the heavens are made they perish shall as garments do but thou shalt evermore endure as vestures thou shalt change them so and they shall all be changed assured but from all changes thou art free thy endless years to last foray thy servants and their seed to be established shall before thee stay you can sing these verses the second version of psalm 102 verse 19 to thee from his holy place looked down the earth he viewed from heaven on high to hear

[24:04] To hear the blisters' morning grow, and within the heart of whom to die.

[24:24] The Zionist, Jerusalem too, whose name and place we will regard.

[24:45] When people learn the kingdom's true, as them belong to praise the Lord.

[25:06] My strength is weakened in the wind.

[25:18] My days of life is shortened and... My God, O day, may not awake.

[25:38] In which I walk, my days I stay. Thy years to hide, all ages last.

[25:59] O hold the fast, it's a blissed.

[26:10] The years to give, transfer on fast. Thy mighty hands, the heavens of me.

[26:31] Thy perish, shall pass time and dew. The flesh of death, but of war and dread.

[26:51] As the church's love, the craft of change in soul. And each and all, we change it here.

[27:12] But from all changes, thou art free. Thy endless years, good as foray.

[27:33] Thy seventh time, mercy to me. His chapter shall be for thee stay.

[27:54] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. I'd like us to turn to Hebrews chapter 13.

[28:05] And we can read verse 8. Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.

[28:25] Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. Many Christians, I believe rightly, have favourite verses of Scripture.

[28:45] Passages that are special to them. Passages that perhaps have been a source of encouragement at some point.

[29:00] And they sometimes turn to these passages again and again. Or perhaps when they come across them almost accidentally.

[29:13] The same truth has significance to them. Now that's not to say that as Christians they don't appreciate God's word in its entirety.

[29:28] Because as Christians they know that God has told us that the whole word of God is important.

[29:39] Without exception. Exception. Like Paul we say all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. And is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

[29:59] That word all is important. It's not some or part of Scripture but all Scripture. So we understand that.

[30:10] We don't dispute that. But at the same time God has given to us certain passages which we have found helpful in the past.

[30:23] And this passage, this verse of Scripture has probably given comfort to a great many people throughout their lives. But we must always, I suppose, at the same time be careful with regard to Scripture that when we look at passages that we look at them in their proper place.

[30:52] We look at them in the way that they were meant to be understood. I've often heard people quote passages and the passages that they've quoted have been quoted correctly but they've been misapplied.

[31:10] They have taken the word out of context and they've used that word improperly. I don't know if that's right or if it's meant to be like that.

[31:26] Because I've often thought, well, if the word of God has given comfort to somebody, even if they have misapplied it in their own circumstances or misappropriated it, who am I to say that that is a misuse or abuse of God's word?

[31:44] But we have to remember that the word of God has a place as God's word and we can't just take it and use it to suit ourselves when the need arises.

[32:08] Professor Sinclair Ferguson, speaking of this verse, says that this verse is probably, in his own opinion, one of the most decontextualized passages of Scripture.

[32:25] In other words, we take that word out of context and we use it so that it means something to us that it wasn't originally meant to mean.

[32:38] And while on the face of it, the verse means one thing, very simple, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever.

[32:55] What can it mean that it's not to be understood by a reading of the verse? Well, in one sense, the text does speak about the never-changing Christ.

[33:09] And without question, that is the truth that is there. But we must remember where the truth that is spoken is spoken in a way that it has got a significant and a particular meaning.

[33:28] It is speaking about the never-changing Christ, but it does so against the background of their faith.

[33:41] The faith of the people to whom this letter is addressed. And it is a faith that is often under scrutiny.

[34:01] And this statement concerning Christ has relevance to a faith that is being tested.

[34:11] Ferguson puts it like this. It has three dimensions. On the basis of God's word given yesterday, they lived as this redeemed people in the present, certain that he would keep his promises forever.

[34:32] Now that narrows the focus of the words down clearly. And we need to understand every bit as much what the words don't mean, just as surely as we understand what they do mean, in order to make use of them most profitably.

[34:53] Now in the context of where we find these words, Hebrew Christians, that is, converted Jews who have become Christian believers, are being encouraged in their faith.

[35:10] And one way in which their faith is being encouraged is that they are reminded of the sufferings of their Saviour. And you would think, well, that is a very broad area where they are reminded of the sufferings of Christ.

[35:30] We all know the importance of the sufferings of Christ. Certainly we know and understand that Christ suffered for our sins, according to the Gospel.

[35:41] That Christ's sufferings took them to the cross, and so on. But the sufferings that they are directed to remember are the sufferings that Christ endured as one that was persecuted, as one that was despised and rejected by this world.

[36:05] As somebody who was righteous and just and holy, and because of what he was in the eyes of the world, they turned on him, they hated him, without a cause, the word of God says.

[36:22] Now, because of Christ's example, in that sense, they are to make sense of their own sufferings.

[36:35] For they have to endure as Christians who are also despised because of their Christ-likeness, who are hated by the world the more they conform to the image of Christ.

[36:55] That they need to understand the nature of their sufferings, as it is so difficult for us to understand that when persecution occurs, that there is a reason for it.

[37:10] Sometimes it may not be apparent. Sometimes we may not understand it. But if we consider it in light of the enmity that is undisguised, that was directed toward Christ, those who endeavour to live Christ-like lives in the world are to understand that the nature of their sufferings accords with his sufferings.

[37:37] Not to the same extent or not as extensively as Christ endured. So that's not the point that he is making. Now, he is not expecting us to court popularity to avoid such persecution or such enmity.

[37:57] Nor is he expecting us to put ourselves deliberately in situations where we attract the enmity of those who do not share our faith.

[38:07] But what he wants us to understand, what he needs the Christian to understand is this, that the more like Christ you are in the world, don't be surprised if the enmity of the world is directed against you.

[38:26] Now, that is part of what we have here in this verse. That is part of what controls our understanding of what that verse is saying.

[38:39] The real issue at one level is this, but he moves on to a deeper layer of understanding by saying that the true source of the Christian comfort is not the fact that they are going to suffer persecutions because of their Christianity, but that they can draw comfort from the fact that Christ is dissimilar to them.

[39:20] One thing that we are aware of is that we are all subject to change in a changing world. Perhaps it could be an exercise for every one of us to engage in, to ask ourselves to engage in this very simple personal activity of finding out for ourselves, or measuring for ourselves, the areas of our life where we have changed most.

[39:57] Most obvious, perhaps, has to do with the ageing process. But the ageing process doesn't go on without other things accompanying it.

[40:09] And there are ways in which every one of us changes maybe opinions, changes perspectives on life, changes directions that we are going, and so on.

[40:23] If we pay attention to that and ask the question of ourselves, where have we changed most? What has been the source of that change?

[40:36] What has initiated it? What has caused us to reflect and to go from one position to another, if that has indeed happened?

[40:46] Could it be a profitable exercise for any one of us? You know, every one of us can have major things going on in our lives, phenomenally great things that happen to us, and the effect of thinking, the effect of our understanding of how life functions, or how people function within this world.

[41:21] But sometimes, the greatest change is affected by small things taking place in our experience, almost without us realising that these things are happening.

[41:46] I don't know if you've ever come across a stream, and in the path of that stream is a rock. And when you examine the rock, you'll notice that the rock has been worn away by the steady process of water washing over it.

[42:10] It doesn't always happen. It depends on the type of rock or stone that it is. But often you see that. There's almost a curve worn in a stone, especially when water touches the surface of the rock, and it's a constant motion of decades, perhaps centuries.

[42:37] Now, in our lives, we are influenced by certain things, changing our thinking, changing the way we reason, we rationalise things.

[42:57] And it affects us. And if you're a Christian, and something is affecting your Christianity, something is affecting your Christianity for good, albeit good and well.

[43:14] But sometimes it's not always something that is affecting us for good. You know, sometimes, as I said, something major happens, and we're made to rethink the path that we're on.

[43:28] But sometimes it's just something, and nothing that we're aware of. And yet, gradually, we're edging our way in a certain direction which is not profitable to our soul.

[43:47] Now, the apostle here is speaking about changes in the life of the believer, of all kinds.

[43:59] Perhaps changes that they are not aware of. But one thing that is a constant, and that is the passion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[44:13] And at the same time, bringing you back to the passage, reminding yourself of what the apostle is saying, and the context that governs what he is saying.

[44:27] We know that we cannot insist that Jesus Christ has never changed. Well, I suppose we have to even guard ourselves in using that description.

[44:44] Because when I speak of Jesus Christ, I'm speaking of the second person of the Trinity. And as the second person of the Trinity, from all eternity, he was God's son.

[44:57] He was the son of God, resting in his bosom. He was always God. And he was always with God. And there was no moment when God was without the son, and the son without God, and the God, and the son without the spirit.

[45:12] There was never a moment when they were not one, as they are the triune God. A mystery, but still the truth. But there came a moment in the experience of the second person of the Trinity, when he entered into an experience that had not been housed before.

[45:33] And that is the experience of the incarnation, when he became man, when he was by the by the spirit implanted in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and when he became man, when he was born into the world as the son of man, when he was what he came to be.

[45:53] Now, the fact of the matter is, he did not always have our nature. He was not always a man. He was always the son of God.

[46:06] He was always with the father, and so on, as we've said. But in the incarnation, in this change that was wrought, in his experience, he took God nature, and he became man.

[46:23] But he became the God-man. In other words, he didn't change from being God. But he became man, which he was not before.

[46:35] But he didn't become man and stop being God. He became the God-man. God-man. And that is something that we find difficult to handle, because of, it's a wonderful piece of doctrine, but we need to appreciate it for what it is.

[46:57] A long time ago, I took note of the words of B.B. Warfield, and he speaks of the incarnation in this way. The glory of the incarnation, he says, is that it presents to our adoring gaze not a humanized God or a deified man, but a true God-man, one who is all that, God is, and at the same time, all that, man is, on whose almighty arm we can rest, and to whose human sympathy we can appeal.

[47:37] We cannot afford to lose either the God in the man or the man in the God. Now, I know that's difficult in many respects to understand, but it's important, it's crucial for our understanding of who Christ is.

[47:54] Jesus Christ, the Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in one distinct nature, and two persons forever, shorter catechism teaching.

[48:07] So there is change with Christ. So either the apostle, when he is writing this, is contradicting what he knows to be the theology of the scriptures, or he is speaking about Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever in a particular way.

[48:28] And the particular way belongs to the context in which this verse is found. It is in the way that the Christian needs to be encouraged that they have such a saviour as Jesus Christ who is not going to change in his ability to save or in his willingness to save or in his willingness to strengthen and confirm and encourage the people of God that God the Father has given to him in eternity.

[49:09] Words of comfort, surely, when you need them most. Because in many respects there should be encouragement for us to understand the significance, the theological significance of the Son of God becoming man.

[49:32] But for the Christian who is on a Christian journey, or the journey of a Christian who is encountering challenges to that journey upon which God has taken or had, there is the greatest comfort possible coming from this source that there is someone who bears this name Jesus Christ and he is not going to change.

[50:05] There are many things that change but this will not change. Christ is ever the same in this respect. It is not a contradiction and the apostle means to draw this to the attention of each and every person who is seeking solace in the word of God.

[50:32] You know, in this passage it is interesting for you always to remember that the apostle looks to the scripture to bolster the arguments that he is making himself.

[50:46] Scripture is always used in the best possible way to give light to scripture. And if you want help to understand what the Bible is meaning, where can you go?

[51:00] Not to the commentators, they're helpful, but they're not, their help is not always the best help. But the scripture always brings the best light possible to bear upon what you're dealing with.

[51:15] And in this passage the apostle is taking you right back to where he began. And he began with Jesus Christ, as you would expect.

[51:28] As you would expect any preacher of the gospel, the best place to go is Jesus Christ. To begin with him, to continue with him, to end with him, that's the best thing possible.

[51:40] And at the beginning of Hebrews, he, in chapter 8, But unto the Son, he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.

[51:51] A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

[52:05] And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest, and they all shall walk so old as doth a garment.

[52:19] As a vesture shall thou fold them up. They shall be changed, but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. What are these words?

[52:32] What are the words? Where do they come from? Where are they're quotations? The words that you've been singing tonight? They're words from the Psalms, some of them.

[52:45] Well, all of them, in fact, are from the Psalms. Psalm 45, Psalm 102. They tell us something about the passion of the Lord Jesus.

[52:57] It tells you about his divinity. It tells you about his origin. It tells you about the origin of the world. It tells you his part in creating the world.

[53:09] It tells you about his continued existence from the time that the world began and before the world began, that he was there. The Puritan John Owen says that the name Jesus declares to us as deity, the name Christ tells us something about his role as God's appointed saviour for sinners.

[53:39] That's why I corrected myself when I used the name Jesus Christ, because Jesus Christ, while we may think of him as Jesus Christ from all eternity, that name Jesus Christ belongs to his role within time, within the experience of his humanity, what he was involved in doing.

[54:07] Remember how in the Gospel of Matthew we have these words, Jesus is described to us in his birth, she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.

[54:27] We are very careful about our names and the names that we give to those that we know, perhaps not so much nowadays, there's a much more broader selection of names for whatever reason they've chosen, but historically names were chosen with significance, and Jesus' name was chosen with significance, because of what he was going to do.

[55:01] In Hebrews chapter 10, in verse 9, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, he taketh away the first, that he may establish the second, by which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all, and so on.

[55:20] speaks to us of the ministry of Christ, the sacrifice of Christ, the work that Christ was to accomplish at God's behest, and according to God's appointment.

[55:39] But what's important for the Christian is this, these words speak about the changelessness of Christ, as far as what is necessary for you and for me to understand that where you are looking for your saviour, you will always find your saviour where you would expect to find him according to the scripture.

[56:06] And there is nothing about that saviour that has altered, that has changed, that circumstances have caused him to depart from his position appointed by God, that is not the way it was.

[56:24] I mentioned Sinclair Ferguson and he interprets the words of Psalm 102 in the following way, he says, the practical implication of the psalm becomes clear when we remember that Psalm 102 is possibly the most eloquent description of depression and despair to be found in the entire Psalter.

[56:49] And the psalmist's mental salvation lay in his rediscovery of the immutability of God. Hebrews gives that truth, flesh and blood dimensions in Jesus Christ.

[57:05] You can trust him, he is always the same. the Old Testament testified to the immutability of God, the changelessness of God, the security that belonged to the believer in God because they were resting upon him in the work that he is doing in the lives of all who are his.

[57:34] He is always the same. Now that is not just a statement of fact. It's not a doctrinal statement alone.

[57:46] It is true. Of course it is true. He is God. As God he says, well, what do we say about God? God says it about himself.

[57:56] I am Jehovah. I change you not. Therefore, you, Israel, are not destroyed. The changelessness of God ensured that the mercy of God remained the same towards his people.

[58:16] But the truth is spoken against contradictions to that truth. That which is contra-truth must be a lie. That which is against the truth, a truth that God has declared concerning his son as the redeemer of his people is a contradiction, is a lie, and it cannot be believed.

[58:41] And it cannot be believed because the truth concerning his son cannot be overturned. You know, in Revelation chapter 1 we read, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty.

[59:04] that is the Christ that this word speaks about. I took note a long time ago as well of the writings of Adolf Stéphor, a converted Jew.

[59:21] Someone perhaps, if you read his writings, especially on this epistle to the Hebrews, he seems to have an understanding based on his own background of Judaism.

[59:34] belong to a family of renowned Jews, and the family as a whole experienced conversion at the hand of God. It seems miraculous when we're hearing today about the conversion of countless individuals, and we're not today seeing many conversions in our own community.

[59:56] We think that's unlikely. We think that's improbable. We think that's not something that can ever happen again. if it ever did, maybe that's the mindset you've got.

[60:10] But no, God works, and his work goes on. There may be a work that's going on in other parts of the world, as it was in years past, in the lives of German Jews, and Jews who lived on the continent, who were through the preaching of the gospel exposed to the truth concerning Jesus Christ.

[60:32] And this is what Safer said. Speaking about Christ, he is eternal, he says, and yet he has a yesterday, a today, and an endless future, whose yesterday has no beginning, but it ends with his burial in that new tomb, whose today commences with the resurrection, and is even now, this acceptable year of the Lord, the gospel dispensation, that today, while we hear the voice of his grace, his forever commences with his second advent, his dominion is everlasting, and throughout he is the same.

[61:19] I am the Lord, God says, I change not, therefore you are not consumed, O house of Israel. and we could go on, what about the love that is changeless, Christ's love is changeless, endless.

[61:42] When I was reflecting on this, I remembered a story, two stories, when I was married, we took a flight from Stornway the day after we were married, and the plane was delayed, but on the flight, somebody was there, and they asked us, he asked us, did you have a good night last night?

[62:11] and I had no idea who this person was, and my new wife did, she recognised him, because he was the driver, driving examiner, who had put her through her driving test, and, well, I didn't see him, and I didn't recognise him, and I didn't know how he associated us with the good night the night before, but he was staying in the Caberville Hotel, and he said, I noticed your nice shiny rings, and I put two and two together, you can tell why he was a driving instructor, he was very observant, but there was a story told about an evangelist, who was many years ago, preaching the gospel in these islands, and he was out on the moors of Barbus, and he was walking across the moors, and he came across a shilling, and I think the woman he met at the shilling would have been newly married, but I'm not sure about that, but his eye caught the ring, her wedding ring that she was wearing, and all he said to this young woman, he said, how like eternity your ring is, it has no beginning, and it has no end, and it has no end, and it has no end, until she heard that word spoken to her, but once it penetrated her heart, she couldn't let it go, the love of

[63:55] Christ has no beginning, it has no end, there's nothing that will change it for any of his own, you say to his own, is your love for Christ the same today as it was yesterday, are you sure it's going to be the same tomorrow as it was today, and they can't, they can't answer you in the affirmative, because they know, as we all know, that our love changes, it fluctuates, it's affected by the world in which we live in, the things that distract us or attract us away from him, but his love is like himself, the same, the same as it was always, it began in eternity, it was expressed in time, and it will go on into eternity, nothing will change it, nothing will alter it, the late

[65:00] Mr. MacGyver Carloway taught that the love of the believer needs to be stoked, the same way the blacksmith's fire needs to be stoked, it needs to be revived constantly by the spirit, but the love of Christ is not like that, what do you think can cause the love of Christ to change?

[65:29] I don't think, supposing I sat here or stood here all night, you would never come up with an answer to that question, there is nothing outside of Christ, that Christ who has revealed himself to us in the world, that will say to us, that I'm going to change, I'm going to be better, I'm going to be worse, I'm going to be something that I'm not being, that's not the way it is, well may God enable you to get the comfort that this word brings, to understand it in the way it was meant, to expect that you're changing world, and it is a changing world, a world full of changes, a world that's, who knows what's around the corner, who knows what's next, and some people when they're thinking about what's next, they dread it, they fear it most awfully, but is it not something most wonderful that you can think, well there's somebody who's not going to change in the middle of all that, there's one person who's not going to change, that's my saviour, that's my

[66:50] Lord, he's going to be ever the same yesterday, today, and forever, may he bless his word, let us pray, oh Lord, oh God, we do not know what day and hour will bring, our life brings so many changes, so many surprises, so many unexpected events, for which we are ill prepared, will you not allow us to rest upon the only one who can say, I am ever the same, the same yesterday, today, and forever, bless us, we pray, forgive our sins, in Jesus' name, amen.

[67:33] Amen. concluding, conclusion, son,ium… Sun, Chris, loss, the sun, out of the siete, nation, 23, IRUST you, thank you, thank you, depending on the paper Psalm 33 we can sing from verse 10 God doth the counsel bring to naught which heathen folk do take and what the people do devise of none effect doth make O but the counsel of the Lord doth stand forever sure and of his heart the purposes from age to age endure that nation blessed is whose God Jehovah is and those a blessed people are whom for his heritage he chose the Lord from heaven sees and beholds all sons of men full well he views all from his dwelling place that in the earth do dwell he forms their hearts alike and like all their doings he observed great hosts save not a king much strength almighty man preserves we'll sing from verse 10

[69:04] God doth the counsel bring to naught which heathen folk do take what doth the counsel bring to naught which heathen folk do take his holy Father Lord of God or another shaman singing songs of mon pon vier divine songs of that songs of technology selection year sing to scholastic song bom O let the cancer of the Lord stand by your ship, and of his heart the purposes, and of his heart the purposes, from his to his nature, that the ancient places are given to God.

[70:54] Jehovah is the Lord, a blessed people of whom God the blessed people of whom God is as he is, he chose.

[71:30] The Lord from heaven season beholds of sons of men who are well.

[71:48] He is all from his dwelling place, he is all from his dwelling place, that in the earth to dwell.

[72:16] He forms in hearts a life and all, there who is in the earth there who is in the earth.

[72:34] Great God save not a king must stand, great God save not a king must stand, no mighty man presents.

[73:02] Amen. May we bless, my dear, peace be God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you all, never and always.

[73:16]  Amen.