Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002805
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00:09 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion about 00:15 the character of God and still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:22 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel with 00:26 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in Sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:37 I've been thinking about how dynamic life is, how scary 00:43 change is and how important change is. Hence the title for 00:48 today's message, The Paradox of Change. Now a paradox is 00:55 something that is seemingly contradictory in either a 01:02 statement or some aspects. Change is good and change is 01:08 bad. It depends on what you're changing. When you read the 01:13 Bible there appears to be a paradox about the word change. 01:17 Seems to be a contradiction at times. For instance, you can 01:23 read that verse in Proverbs 24:21: My son do not associate 01:28 with those who are given to change. Stability, consistency, 01:32 tradition. Don't hang around folks that are subject to change 01:36 Then you read a lot of other verses that talk about how God 01:41 wants to change us. Jeremiah 18:11: Return everyone now from 01:45 his evil way and mend you ways and your doings. God is pleading 01:50 with us to change. So it seems like on one side God is saying 01:54 watch out for those who are given to change and on the other 01:58 side God is saying when are you ever going to change? So there's 02:03 an apparent paradox there. Now one thing I've noticed that in 02:09 many areas people are afraid of change. We resist change. Change 02:14 often means pressure. The way you get a diamond from a hunk of 02:19 coal is it requires head and pressure. People are scared of 02:26 change. You are exhibit A. Matter of fact I could close my 02:32 eyes right now and name 20 families in our church and I can 02:39 tell you where they're sitting. And I just heard Cathy Navarro 02:44 laugh. It's interesting because you guys used to sit on this 02:50 side but that's been 10 years ago. You've evolved. But most 02:56 of you... Isadora sits in that seat right there. Now I don't 03:00 want to put you on the spot but isn't that your seat. Would you 03:04 like us to reserve that one for you? (Laughter) And if we have 03:09 a visitor that gets here before here they better watch out. That 03:13 purse she carries is heavy. Naw, I'm sorry. My parents-in-law, 03:16 I always know. If I want to look where Karen's at, I don't ever 03:20 look on that side. Matter of fact, I could make you all very 03:25 nervous right now if I said I want you to all swap sides. 03:30 (Laughter) I've already embarrassed several people, but 03:34 I don't want to embarrass our son but last night we had Pastor 03:40 Ross and his family over for a little Sabbath dinner and their 03:44 three kids, Nathan there. We've got a little dinette, you know, 03:49 just in the kitchen there and all the place mats are about the 03:53 same. Table's the same, all the chairs are identical. Everyone 03:59 had the same paper plate. And one of Pastor Ross's kids sat 04:03 down in Nathan's chair where he sits when it's just mom and me. 04:08 And Nathan said that's my chair. (Laughter) And I labored with 04:13 him. I said, son their visitors, let them sit... But that's my 04:18 chair. Isn't that right. Sorry am I embarrassing you Nathan? 04:24 And he just was going to come unglued. I said, you can have my 04:28 chair. Sit there. They're all the same. But this taught us 04:34 something about human nature. How many of you go to a 04:39 restaurant and you like going to this restaurant but when you go 04:41 to that restaurant you almost always order the same thing off 04:45 the menu. They might have 40 things on the menu there but 04:48 you've found one thing you like and you're afraid to order 04:51 something else because you know that you like whatever that is. 04:55 We're creatures of habit. We're made insecure by too much 05:04 change. Mark Twain said the only person who likes change is a wet 05:13 baby. (Laughter) I think that part of the reason that we like 05:19 when we see some of the old cars restored or you hear one of 05:24 those old songs on the radio and even some of the old styles 05:29 start coming back. Because there's that familiarity and 05:33 that makes us secure. People are made restless by change. Problem 05:39 is if you don't ever change you end up getting in a rut and 05:43 someone once said a rut is a grave with both ends kicked out. 05:48 And if there's any one thing I want to try to communicate 05:54 during this message, and I'm praying as I go, because it's 06:00 hard to communicate this. It would be because we are afraid 06:05 of change, there's two things I want to say. One is because 06:09 we're afraid for change we get into a rut and you can stop 06:14 growing as a Christian and you continue to do the same things 06:18 and you say one of these days I need to change and you never get 06:23 around to it until you're life is gone and you end your life 06:27 with all these regrets and all these things you wished you'd 06:32 change but you were afraid to step out. Then there's the other 06:36 extreme, we're talking about the paradox, of people who have 06:41 no stability and they're just changing every day. Matter of 06:45 fact you don't even know how many personalities they've got. 06:50 They're just always wanting to do something different. It's 06:56 called constantly changing. Someone did a survey; 45% of 07:01 Americans would change a bad habit if they could. Forty-five 07:05 percent admitted if I could I'd change a bad habit. Sixty-four 07:09 percent would change the status of their wealth if they could. 07:14 Fifty-one percent would change their weight if they could. The 07:19 number who would change their intelligence, only 32%. Most 07:23 people were perfectly happy with their level of intelligence 07:26 I would change mine if I could. But so many things are 07:34 constantly changing, the Bible even teaches that. Do you know 07:38 that you have changed since I began this message? Matter of 07:42 fact, by the end of the sentence I'm speaking right now 07:46 you're different than you were when I started it, period. 07:50 That's the end of the sentence. Your body, yourselves constantly 07:58 changing. Nothing is the same. And yet Solomon said, here's the 08:04 paradox, Ecclesiastes 1 verse 9: The thing that has been it is 08:09 that which shall be and that which is done is that which has 08:13 been done and there's nothing new under the sun. Seems like 08:17 everything stays the same. Well that's true when it comes to 08:22 certain trends and human nature but everything is also dynamic 08:29 and changing. Think about for instance how much has changed 08:34 in the generation in which we live. Most of us sitting here 08:39 right now have lived and crossed the threshold of 08:43 millennia. If you were living in the 1990s and now you're living 08:48 in the 2000s, you've witnessed the transition of a millennium. 08:54 And never did it hit me so hard as when I was present for my 08:59 I conducted my grandfather's funeral. He lived to 93. There's 09:04 a generation that's still around us now who remember when there 09:10 was no radio, forget about television. I mean, some of us 09:14 don't even remember black and white television. Some of us 09:19 here don't remember cassette tapes. You grew up and it was 09:23 CDs. You think about that. And when I did my grandfather's 09:28 funeral and I thought, can you imagine how much change mankind 09:34 for 5900 years lived lighting their dwellings with a flame 09:40 and then bingo, electricity. For 5900 years people went from 09:47 point A to point B riding a horse or walking, right? 09:50 And then all of a sudden in that last generation, talking about 09:55 those who are in their 90s now, anybody could buy a car and now 10:02 some of us have three or four cars. Just before my grandfather 10:10 if you wanted to get from the east coast to the west coast 10:13 you either took a ship around South America because the Panama 10:17 canal wasn't built yet or you went overland. If you were very 10:22 modern the train might have been available or you went by wagon. 10:29 Now that's going back, like I said, a little more than one 10:33 generation. But think about all of the change that is happening 10:37 around us right now. Matter of fact, I read a fact this week. 10:42 Studies have shown that the halfway point of all human 10:46 knowledge, the continuum of 6000 years of written history, the 10:52 halfway point of all human knowledge is only 20 years ago. 10:56 Did you catch what I just said? Picture a time line of human 11:02 technology that has been gathered. It's 6000 years long 11:06 reaching from creation to the present day. If you want to 11:11 point to the halfway mark of all the knowledge that has been 11:16 gained you only go back 20 years because knowledge has grown 11:20 exponentially so much. They used to say it was 50 years back. 11:25 They thought with the space program, the invention of the 11:28 car and the airplane and all that, but knowledge has been 11:31 compounding and growing and changing so much. Now with that 11:36 in mind, how much should a church change? Should a church 11:42 change? Well it depends what you mean, Pastor Doug. That could be 11:46 a paradox. Are you talking about changing beliefs? Part of the 11:54 reason I chose this message is I wanted to talk about how we 11:58 change with the time without changing what shouldn't change. 12:03 Some go too far. Matter of fact, in a day we're living now in a 12:10 time when you can buy more than you've ever bought in the 12:13 history of man. Somebody told me that 150 years ago or may be a 12:19 little after that the Sears and Roebuck catalog tried to have 12:21 some of everything that could be bought and there were only 300 12:24 things in the catalog. They figured there were only about 12:28 300 things you could buy. Look at all you can buy now. Some 12:32 people shop for change. They're not happy with either what they 12:36 have or who they are and by trying to constantly acquire new 12:41 things and change their environment and change their 12:44 clothes, they're just shopping for change all the time. Styles 12:48 change. Very maddening to me. Because it takes me 20 years to 12:54 figure out what's in style and by the time I've figured it out 12:56 it's out of style. Can any of you men say amen to that. 13:01 I mean if you get to finally where you've got some clothes 13:03 that are practical stop changing I mean if it's good just wear it 13:10 Then everyone keeps changing the styles. I've got this tie that I 13:15 really like and so I've been wearing it for 20 years. 13:18 It still looks good to me. I have it dry cleaned once every 13:24 decade and it's good to go. I have friends around me saying 13:29 Doug you've got that tie in some of your tapes that are 10 years 13:33 old. I say yeah it's a good tie. What's wrong with it? You know, 13:38 I'm trying to be consistent. The styles can't make up their 13:42 minds. For a while there everybody was wearing these 13:45 little anorexic ties and then they get these big old ties that 13:47 look like an L.A. interstate and then they go back again. I think 13:50 look I haven't changed. You guys can't make up your mind. 13:53 You know what I'm talking about? And there is a conspiracy out 13:58 there, I've got my mind made up. Somewhere in France there is a 14:04 group of sinister people that are gathered around drawing 14:08 boards and sewing machines and they're playing cruel jokes on 14:13 us about what we're supposed to wear. These fashion programs and 14:18 how do they come up with this stuff? I mean if you get 14:21 something that makes sense. I don't even know why we wear 14:25 ties. But you know it's the style. It's just considered to 14:30 be respectful so I wear one. So people are sometimes just 14:34 always shopping trying to find change. John Wesley says, and by 14:39 the way there's a similar quote by Ellen White, John Wesley said 14:44 As to matters of dress I would recommend that one never be the 14:48 first in fashion nor the last out of it. Some people always 14:52 want to be the first one to sport some new fashion and some 14:55 fashions don't ever take and so you look pretty weird all by 14:58 yourself for a while. And you also don't want to be so 15:03 conservative that you're the last one to ever adopt something 15:06 and you stand out like a sore thumb and there's some people 15:09 who think that it's pious to be a spectacle. You know what 15:13 I mean. So they are so out of fashion that it's a bad witness 15:18 for Christ. So John Wesley was very conservative. I think it 15:23 was a very insightful comedian. Very... My mind went to my next 15:30 thought. What I was going to say is Milton Berle one time was 15:34 doing some standup comedy in the 1960s and a lady started to 15:39 heckle him. And he said I remember you. You heckled me in 15:44 1948. I never forget a dress. (Laughter) Making fun of what 15:50 she was wearing. So some people are shopping for change. Now 15:55 there's a verse I like for you to read where Jesus addresses 16:00 this dynamic of the paradox of change. Luke chapter 5 verse 36, 16:04 and by the way he says something similar also in Matthew and in 16:09 Mark, but I chose Luke 5 verse He spoke a parable unto them 16:15 speaking about new and old. No one puts a piece of from a new 16:20 garment on an old one otherwise the new makes a tear and the 16:24 piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 16:29 I remember when I'd patch my cotton denim jeans and of course 16:34 cotton shrinks and if you take a new patch and you put it on old 16:40 denim and then when you sew it in there and the new cotton 16:43 shrinks it actually tears it away and makes it worse. Some of 16:46 you ladies are surprised Pastor Doug knows so much about 16:50 material because I did it. That's how I know. It also works 16:53 the other way around. If you take an old patch and sew it on 16:55 new clothes and you wash it they don't shrink the same and it can 16:58 make it actually worse. You want the old patch on the old clothes 17:01 and the new patch on the new clothes. Got it? That's what 17:03 Jesus is talking about. It's a truth that goes all the way back 17:07 to the time of Christ and before And then he goes on to say 17:11 and no one puts new wine into old wine skins or else the new 17:16 wine will burst the wine skins and be spilled out and the wine 17:19 skins are ruined. Not only do you lose the wine, you wreck 17:23 the wine skin. But new wine must be put into new wine skins and 17:28 both are preserved. Now what he's talking about here is wine 17:33 has a tendency to develop yeast to ferment and to expand. That 17:37 yeast is on the inner lining of those old wine skins. If you 17:41 put new wine in old wine skins the old wine skins they will 17:45 stretch out once but they won't stretch out twice. You can put 17:48 the old wine that is done expanding back in the old skins. 17:53 That'll work but if you've got new wine you better put it in 17:56 the new wine skins so it can stretch with it. How many of you 17:58 know that you can have copper pipes in your house and you can 18:01 handle one freeze with most copper pipes because the copper 18:04 does actually expand. But that second freeze the pipes are 18:07 going to start leaking everywhere. You just can't do it 18:10 twice. Well these are the truths that Jesus is talking about. 18:13 Now why did he share that parable? When Christ came the 18:18 church had become an institution They were settled in their ways. 18:23 They had preconceived ideas that they taught in their university. 18:28 The teachers and professors were all tenured. Along comes 18:32 Jesus and he said I've got some things to say to you that are 18:35 different than what you believe. They're different from your 18:39 traditions. Now Jesus did not come to change the Law of Moses 18:43 and the prophets. He said do not think I have come to change the 18:47 Law and the prophets. That's not my purpose. But they had some 18:50 traditions that were not biblical and they had become 18:56 stuck in a rut as a church. One reason they executed Jesus is 19:00 because he came to implement change. He didn't change the 19:04 truth. You know bringing a revival to a religious 19:09 institution is one of the hardest things that can happen. 19:15 It's like trying to turn a battle ship at the same speed 19:21 you would turn a jet ski. It just doesn't work. It's so big 19:26 it's so mammoth, it's cumbersome behemoth. You just can't turn 19:30 it. You've got all these people and this history and tradition 19:35 and institution that is settled in its ways and rooted that it 19:40 just takes a miracle of God to bring revival and renovation 19:44 and change to some of these institutions. And I'm not just 19:47 even talking about religious institutions. It could be all 19:50 kinds of them. But Christianity needs to have that balance, the 19:56 Christian church needs to have that balance where you can make 20:01 quick maneuvers to do things that are fresh and new and 20:06 innovative while not sacrificing the truth. Now I'm sharing that 20:11 with you because you're thinking okay Pastor Doug, I'm starting 20:16 to cinch down in my pew. You're not getting ready to change 20:22 anything, are you? Well I think we should change. All the time. 20:28 I think that anything new and innovative we can do to preach 20:34 the old story is a good thing. As long as you're not 20:39 sacrificing the fundamentals of what truth is, we should be 20:44 willing to change. And not only is that good for an institution 20:49 good for church, it's good for you. Have you gotten stuck in a 20:54 rut? Has it been the same thing? Some of you are stuck in the 20:57 same jobs you've had for years and you're not happy but you're 21:02 afraid to take a risk. Now I've got to issue a disclaimer here. 21:06 But I think if you've been doing something for years, but 21:11 because of security or because you're afraid to maybe retrain 21:16 or learn something new but you are unsatisfied, you don't feel 21:19 like you're able to glorify God in your job, you're not growing 21:23 as a person, but you're staying there because you think oh I 21:27 don't know what else to do. I say step out in faith. 21:30 Do something. I'll share something with you and I'm going 21:36 get, I'm probably going to get letters on this. I hear about 21:41 people who are caught in certain parts of town where 21:45 there might be gangs and crime and people will say but they're 21:50 trapped. There's no way out. I don't accept that. I'll tell you 21:54 why. One day when I was unhappy where I was, I wasn't living in 21:58 a crime ravaged neighborhood I said I'm not going to do this 22:02 anymore. I got up, I walked to a freeway and I stuck out my thumb 22:05 and I got a new life. I mean really. It's scary because you 22:09 have no idea what's down the road but I have done that more 22:12 then once. I just said, this ain't working. Better get my 22:15 backpack. You get out in the road. Where you going? I don't 22:18 know. I mean that's how I ended up in Covelo. They picked me up. 22:20 They said where you going. I said I don't know but I don't 22:24 like where I've been. Sometimes you just got to say, I'm ready 22:28 to have something new, a new adventure. Be sensitive to the 22:31 leading of God. I think a lot of us miss opportunities for God to 22:36 work miracles for us because we get stuck. Why do you think 22:40 the Lord chose the children of Israel to illustrate salvation 22:44 for us going through the wilderness? You notice they had 22:49 a tent? The tabernacle was portable. Why? Because it was 22:53 moving. Sometimes it stayed somewhere, sometimes even years 22:56 and then all of a sudden they looked towards the sanctuary and 23:00 that pillar of fire would rise up and it would begin to start 23:02 moving and they'd say better pack. And they'd all pack and 23:04 they'd start going. Where are we going? We don't know but God's 23:08 leading us to the next place. And so while they had the truth 23:12 in their midst that did not change, they were constantly 23:17 moving. One of the things that I'm afraid of is that we get in 23:23 a rut as a church. You know one of the dynamics that sometimes 23:29 happens to a church that has been around for several 23:32 generations? It becomes an institution. The people lose 23:36 their fire. I don't know if any of you saw the broadcast 23:39 Thursday night at 3ABN. We were talking about this. But if you 23:43 look at some of the revival movements, the Lutheran church. 23:47 Martin Luther. He kind of began a revival movement. They were 23:50 on fire and they were learning new things and they were growing 23:54 and they were spreading it. But a couple of generations, three, 23:58 four, five generations go by and pretty soon it becomes an 24:02 institution and they get settled in their ways. John Wesley, man 24:06 of God and revival. He was preaching in the open fields. 24:09 Well not too many Methodists preach that way anymore. 24:12 It became an institution. They had some success. They got 24:14 settled in their ways. They got stuck in a rut. Do you think our 24:17 church is immune. How many people grow up in the church and 24:22 they never find the fire of the Holy Spirit, a love for the 24:26 message. They don't discover it for the first time and they get 24:30 in a rut. They said Oh we've been in the church for this many 24:34 generations and they're depending on the heritage and 24:37 the tradition for their salvation and they've never had 24:41 a personal experience. They need a change. They need something 24:45 fresh, something new. This is what Jesus faced. The Jewish 24:49 nation had gotten stuck in a rut. He came along and he 24:53 was preaching these fresh truths and one group of people said 24:58 living water. This is feeding my soul. This is what I need. And 25:02 others were saying, He's threatening our institution and 25:07 they killed him. He's changing our traditions. Jesus talked 25:12 that tradition versus the new. And a healthy church I believe 25:19 needs a mix of firmness for the truth and innovation. I was 25:25 reading in Reader's Digest this week on the airplane. That's 25:31 sort of when I indulge myself with a Reader's Digest. And they 25:35 said we're having a problem with our magazine. 25:39 Reader's Digest said 25:40 people are not reading as much any more. All subscription 25:42 magazines are struggling. People now are getting their 25:45 information on the internet. They don't buy the printed page 25:49 nearly as much. Amazing Facts in our publishing department 25:53 have noticed book sales, Bible studies, they're going down a 25:56 little bit and we're trying to figure out what is it and we're 26:00 working harder to get the message out. People just aren't 26:03 reading as much. They sit in front of their computer screen 26:05 and that's how they're doing their reading. That's how they 26:08 get their information. Reader's Digest is admitting, we're 26:12 having a problem. I mean when people stop reading Reader's 26:16 Digest is in trouble, right? So what are we going to do? 26:22 Ah we better be fast and lean so as a church we can then get 26:27 out. I discovered U-Tube, quite by accident. Everybody was 26:31 sending to me. They said Pastor Doug did you know that you're 26:35 on U-Tube. I said what's U-Tube? They said, yeah, they've taken 26:40 the Final Events, they've chopped it up in these little 26:42 sections and they're streaming it on the internet. So I went 26:46 and I found out about U-Tube. Now not all of it's good and I'm 26:51 not recommending that. It's a medium for communicating. 26:53 Everybody makes these little videos and they send them and 26:58 most of it is goofy nonsense. But I got an idea. I don't know 27:01 if I told Eric this one yet. It probably scares him because I 27:07 have new idea about every 30 seconds. On the computer the 27:11 average speed is what? It's about eight or nine minutes. 27:15 It's not very long. I thought all right. I can make a gospel 27:19 presentation in nine minutes. What if you took the most 27:22 important things... If you were going to talk to somebody on 27:25 death row and share the gospel with them, what would you say 27:28 in nine minutes. I thought what if you made just the most 27:31 powerful appeal for someone to accept Christ that you can make 27:34 Call it gospel presentation. Put it on U-Tube. Let everybody send 27:38 it to all their friends that don't know the Lord. Right? 27:41 I said so then you compensate. You've got to do something new. 27:45 But in order to do this you know... I think the devil is 27:47 trying to throw the church off their balance all the time 27:50 because he's changing. We've got to know what to change and what 27:53 not to change. The new wine needs to go in the new wine 27:57 skins and the old wine needs to stay in the old wine skins, 28:00 right? Old patches on the old clothes, new patches on the new 28:04 clothes. By the way, wine and cloth is what Jesus talked about 28:08 Cloth represents the righteousness of Christ. 28:12 The wine represents the gospel and it's a new righteousness and 28:16 a new, fresh, unfermented gospel that he gives us. Amen? Just 28:21 something that I want you to think about. Mark chapter 7 28:25 talking about tradition. Verse 8 Christ said to the religious 28:30 leaders, for laying aside the commandment of God, the thing 28:35 that shouldn't change, you hold to the tradition of men, the 28:39 things that don't matter. So many people are protective of 28:43 their pet traditions and are laying aside the commandment of 28:48 God that is something that's not supposed to change, such as the 28:51 washing of pitchers and cups and many other such things you do. 28:55 He said, all too well you reject the commandment of God that you 28:58 might keep your tradition. And that's typical. Churches become 29:03 very jealous. We guard our traditions and go home and break 29:08 God's law. And we think that religious tradition is a 29:14 substitute for holiness. We've got to know what to change and 29:21 what not to change. Some things we should be willing to do new. 29:27 I believe we should have new music every now and then, new 29:34 songs. Now as soon as I say that you go... New music? I don't 29:40 know if I like the sound of that new music. Because you're 29:44 automatically thinking that means the wrong kind of music. 29:48 I'm not saying that. Are we supposed to sing a new song to 29:52 God every now and then? Well let me read it to you in case 29:56 you're wondering. Psalm 33 verse Sing a new song, play 30:01 skillfully with a loud noise. Question: You're favorite hymn, 30:08 was it once new. I wonder what it was like to sit in the 30:15 cathedral when John Newton first sang Amazing Grace and be 30:20 by one of the saints who elbowed another saint and said, Ah I 30:26 don't like this new music. Don't you think that probably happened 30:31 at some point along the way? Or even in the German church 30:35 when Martin Luther was singing A Mighty Fortress. That was once 30:39 a new song. I'm sure some of the Catholic prelates said that 30:43 fancy protestant music. And now we look at it as high church old 30:47 fashioned. I think there are principles of music that don't 30:52 change, but we shouldn't be afraid to sing a new song as 30:56 long as it maintains those principles. Some things should 31:01 never change. What I order when I go to Subway that's not going 31:06 to change. I've got one option and I think probably Karen could 31:10 order for me without my telling her. It's... Well I won't tell 31:14 you what it is right now but you can probably figure it out. 31:20 One of those things that should not change, Jeremiah 6:16: Thus 31:25 says the Lord, stand in the ways and see and ask for the old 31:32 paths where the good way is and walk in it. Some people want a 31:36 new thing and they're walking in the new path and they're out 31:41 of the path of God. Then you will find rest for your souls. 31:46 You know I've got this theory. The last verses in the Old 31:51 Testament and the Spirit and power of Elijah, Elijah will 31:54 turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts 31:58 of the children to the fathers lest I come and smite the earth 32:01 with a curse. Last words in the Old Testament. I think it's 32:05 interesting last words in the Old Testament are really talking 32:09 about a unity between the young and the old, the fathers and the 32:13 children and the children and the fathers. Not only do I think 32:17 there's something there for family love. There's no question 32:21 we're living in a time in the world's history when there's 32:24 more breakdown in the family than at any other time. There 32:26 are more single family homes, more children growing up without 32:30 fathers than any other time in the history of the world. But I 32:33 don't think that's one of the main things God is saying there 32:36 in that verse. Turning the hearts of the fathers to the 32:40 children. You know one of the problems with fathers and 32:43 children is that the kids are more willing to accept something 32:48 new. Parents and fathers, they get settled in their ways and 32:53 they're afraid of those new things. And one of the problems 32:57 it says turning the hearts of the children to the fathers too. 33:01 Sometimes in the children's quest for that which is new and 33:06 novel they're abandoning the old paths. And I think that God is 33:11 calling us in the last days to return to the faith of the 33:16 fathers and use fresh innovative methods to share those things. 33:23 Knowing how to embrace change without sacrificing truth. 33:29 Matter of fact, I think we all feel this paradox, fear of 33:38 change and fear of monotony. Judges 5:8: They chose new gods 33:45 and then there was war in the gates. By the way, without 33:51 looking, who said that? Deborah the prophetess. They chose new 33:58 gods and then there was war in the gates. So often when the 34:02 children of Israel turned away from God it led to war, it led 34:08 to calamity. Isaiah 24 verse 5: The earth also is defiled under 34:13 its inhabitants because they have transgressed the law, catch 34:17 this, they've changed the ordinance. Some things shouldn't 34:20 change. They changed the foundational truths. They've 34:23 broken the everlasting covenant. When those things change you've 34:28 got problems. In America one thing that people do a lot of 34:33 changing is spouses. Some things shouldn't change. You know if, 34:39 heaven forbid, you've been widowed, Paul says if the 34:45 married person's spouse dies they're free. They're not under 34:49 bondage, that meaning they're free to remarry. But some people 34:52 already start shopping around and they're still married to the 34:55 other one. They just think that ah if I just had a new husband 35:00 or a new wife it would be better Some things shouldn't change. 35:05 And you know what typically happens? I'll just pick on guys 35:12 for a second. He marries this gal. There's that charisma, that 35:19 energy, that spark. It's new, it's exciting. You know she just 35:25 looks like a million dollars every time he sees her and he 35:29 has no idea that means it's going to cost a million dollars 35:33 to keep her looking that way. Then they get married and after 35:37 a few months or years he wakes up and looks at this creature in 35:40 the bed next to him. Got curlers and paste on the face. But he 35:44 goes to work and his secretary still looks like a million 35:48 dollars and he begins to think I'm ready for a change. Comes 35:54 home, wife says take out the trash. And so he runs off with 35:59 his secretary. A few months go by. He wakes up and he looks at 36:04 the creature there with the curlers or something else and 36:10 she said take out the trash. And you know what? Almost invariably 36:15 people who abandon the relationships for that God, God 36:19 is a loving God, he's a just God. I'm convinced he's got a 36:23 sense of humor. He will put you back in the same situation so 36:27 that you will learn. I've seen so many guys that they throw 36:31 away their family, they throw away their spouse. Women do it 36:35 too. They say oh you know this person is so strong in A, B, C 36:41 and my spouse just is so weak in character traits A, B and C, 36:45 and oh I'll be so happy with this. But they didn't know when 36:51 they married that guy how weak he was in D, E and F. And they 36:58 are in the same place. Say Amen. If I could just have a change. 37:06 God doesn't change. Malachi chapter 3 verse 6, I'm so 37:13 thankful for that truth. He says For I am the Lord, I change not. 37:20 Again Hebrews chapter 1 verse 12 As a vesture thou shall fold 37:25 them up, mountains and the hills can all be folded up, they shall 37:31 be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall not fail. 37:35 And then you go to chapter 13 in the same book, Hebrews 13 verse 37:39 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever, 37:45 which is really very encouraging when you think about it. God is 37:48 love and his love for us does not change. Can you say amen? 37:52 God's word does not change. Somebody told me that if 37:57 Shakespeare were alive today he would not understand, what was 38:04 it, two out of five words that we say. I mean the English 38:09 language has really changed. Some people don't know that the 38:14 King James version is actually a revised version. If you were 38:18 reading the 1611 version you probably couldn't even read it. 38:21 The lettering wasn't even the same, the spelling was not the 38:26 same. The language is evolving but God's word does not change. 38:31 His truth is the same. Jesus said, Matthew chapter 24:35: 38:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away. 38:40 Again Isaiah 40 verse 8: The grass withers and the flower 38:45 fades but the word of our God shall stand forever. God does 38:49 not change and since Jesus is the Word that stands to reason 38:53 the word does not change and because Jesus is the truth that 38:58 would also mean that the truth does not change. If you're a 39:03 pilot then you know that there's two kinds of north. You would 39:07 say, Pastor Doug, what, two kinds of north. North is north. 39:12 No not exactly. You've got your true north and then you've got 39:18 your magnetic north. Now the invisible axle on which the 39:23 world revolves that's pretty constant even though it does 39:29 wobble. But magnetic north is determined by as best as they 39:34 can tell is magma underneath the tectonic plates of the earth 39:39 that is creating this magnetic field around our planet and 39:44 helps contribute to the aurora borealis in the north and the 39:48 austral borealis in the south. That is migrating all the time. 39:53 In fact, I read something here. It says that right now magnetic 39:58 North Pole has steadily drifted for decades is picking up speed. 40:03 It's soon going to exit Canada. If it follows its present 40:08 course it's going to pass north of Alaska and eventually in half 40:11 a century it will arrive in Siberia. It's floating. Truth 40:18 does not float. Back in the days of Constantine when the church 40:23 became an institution, they legalized Christianity. They 40:27 finally thought we've arrived. All this persecution is going to 40:29 stop. All the former Roman emperors, they had been 40:32 persecuting us. They got a Roman emperor who not only allowed 40:35 Christianity, he made a nominal profession of Christianity. 40:39 Constantine. And they said how can these pagans go from their 40:45 pagan religion, that old wine, and become Bible Christians. 40:49 It's too big a transition. We need to help them. If we make 40:53 some changes and they make some changes we can meet them part 40:56 way and make it easier for them to transition into Christianity 41:00 and after all for unity it should be worthwhile sacrificing 41:04 a few little things. So they said, Well tell you what. They 41:10 are so in love with their idols, it's too much for them to become 41:13 Christians and give up their idols too. If we just give their 41:18 idols Christian names. And Voila in the course of just about 100 41:22 years idolatry came into the church. They're used to 41:25 worshipping on the first day of the week. The Bible Christians 41:28 worshipped on the seventh day of the week. What difference is it 41:31 as long as it's a seventh day? It doesn't have to be the 41:35 seventh day and so they said it doesn't really matter. Let's 41:38 now make Sunday the seventh day of the week. Let's move it. 41:41 Let's make a series of compromises. I mean, after all 41:44 change isn't all bad. Not when it comes to changing truth. 41:49 Find out what they want. Try to market Christianity to the 41:53 pagans. Meet them part way. Look at how the church will grow. 41:58 So they sacrificed truth for numbers, sacrificed quality for 42:04 quantity. Churches are doing that today. All of churches 42:08 including ours. They're saying how do we get people into the 42:12 church as though getting them into the church means that they 42:16 are getting them into heaven. And they are sacrificing and 42:21 compromising principles of truth They're changing the everlasting 42:25 covenant, things that shouldn't be changed, to try to market 42:31 Christianity to the pagans in our culture. Is this true? 42:37 That's not how you do it friends That's dangerous. God's promises 42:42 do not change. We can trust that he's going to do for us what he 42:48 said. His love for us does not change. Romans 8 verse 38 and 39 42:53 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor 42:57 principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to 43:01 come nor height nor depth nor any other created thing shall 43:05 be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ 43:08 Jesus our Lord. That to me is some of the best news in the 43:11 message this morning is that in a world where it seems like 43:14 everything is dynamic and changing, God doesn't change. 43:17 God is love. That means his love for you is constant. There are 43:23 days that my love for Karen is stronger than others depending 43:29 on everything from how well I slept to how hungry I am to 43:34 whether things went well for me. You know what I mean. Our love 43:38 is a little bit vacillating due to the environment and 43:41 circumstances. But God's love for you is not that way. My love 43:46 for her may be affected by how nice she's being to me or how I 43:49 think she's behaving. And some of our kids, we give them the 43:52 same signal. We act like we love them more when they're good than 44:00 when they're bad. Don't we? But whether your good or bad, God's 44:07 love for you does not change. He doesn't love you any more 44:10 when you're good. He doesn't love you any less when you're 44:14 bad. He's unchanging in his love for you. I'm thankful for that 44:19 good news. Well there are some big changes ahead. I'm looking 44:25 forward to them. For one thing, our bodies are going to change. 44:30 Well some of our bodies are changing all the time right now 44:34 anyway. We're getting older and some of us are getting thinner, 44:38 some are getting wider but I'm not talking about that. I'm 44:43 talking about I Corinthians 15 verse 52: In a moment, in the 44:46 twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will 44:50 sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible and we 44:53 shall be changed. Is that a good change? Yes. You'll come to 44:57 church with your glorified body and sit in same place where 45:02 you've always sat, right? (Laughter) For this corruptible 45:07 must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on 45:10 immortality. It says the dead will be raised incorruptible. 45:14 We shall be changed. Job asks it this way. Job 14:14: If a man 45:18 dies will he live again. All the days of my heart's service I 45:23 will wait till my change comes. He was looking forward to that 45:27 day of the ultimate change. Of course, our whole world's going 45:30 change. God's going to make a new heavens and a new earth. 45:34 Revelation 21:4: God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. 45:38 There will be no more death nor sorrow nor crying. Neither shall 45:43 there be any more pain for all the former things have changed, 45:47 they've passed away. Are you looking forward to that change? 45:51 Now if you want to experience that change then you've got to 45:54 experience another kind of change now. Are you in a rut? 45:58 Do you have a changed heart? Every Christian it's not enough 46:01 to say will I've got the tradition of Christianity. 46:03 Is your heart new? What's the new covenant. The new covenant 46:08 is I'll give you a new heart. There's a big change that takes 46:13 place. Ah, Pastor Doug, I can't I'm stuck in a rut 46:16 You know there's that verse, 46:18 can the Ethiopian change his skin? Can the leopard change his 46:22 spots? How can I change? God says, I'll do it, I'll change 46:26 you. I'll put a new heart within you through His Spirit. Albert 46:30 Hubbard said if your religion doesn't change you, you need to 46:35 change your religion. Just a little commentary. I know I said 46:39 I was going to shorten this up a little bit. Listening to all 46:43 these people. Religion has come up in politics a little bit and 46:46 it seems like the politicians are trying so hard to distance 46:50 themselves from their religion. Don't worry, I know I believe 46:54 this but you know my religion and who I am and my politics 46:57 I'm going to keep the two separate. I've always thought to 47:00 myself, hey, if your religion doesn't affect who you are and 47:03 your decisions and your world what good is it? I want my 47:06 religion to have an influence on my process. It doesn't mean I'll 47:10 use it to dictate political policy but people should 47:15 probably say yes my religion affects who I am. Catherine 47:20 Booth said if you want a better future you need to disturb the 47:23 present. If you want a better future get out of your rut. 47:29 Ezekiel 36:26: I'll give you a new heart, put a new spirit 47:33 within you. I'll take the heart of stone out of your flesh and 47:37 give you a heart of flesh. I'll put my Spirit within you and 47:41 I'll cause you to walk in my ways and keep my judgments. 47:44 Then you will dwell in the land I gave your fathers, you will be 47:47 my people and I will be your God. God says I will, I will, 47:53 I will. If you ask him. He will change your heart. You know 47:59 I read about a parrot. This is a remarkable story. If you've 48:04 been up to Caribou, Alaska, they had a parrot there that was 48:09 called Polly the Carcrass parrot who lived in the Caribou Inn 48:15 and was brought to the Yukon territory during the gold rush 48:21 and was already old when Polly arrived at this inn. From 1918 48:27 to 1972 Polly the parrot lived there. When people first met 48:31 Polly there was a tavern especially during the gold rush 48:36 in the inn and all of the sailors and the miners taught 48:43 unsavory songs to the parrot and colorful kind of purple 48:49 language. The people thought it was very entertaining. Sometimes 48:54 they were shocked by the language not knowing what had 48:58 been taught to this parrot. Well that's because the proprietor 49:01 of the inn had a saloon but then it was sold. It was sold several 49:04 times over the years. This is a true story. A Christian got 49:09 a hold of the inn and the parrot came along with it. You know in 49:13 Alaska parrots don't thrive out in the wild and so that was it's 49:16 home. It was already so old. Trying to teach a parrot new 49:22 words after it's 50 years old is probably considered 49:26 impossible by naturalists. But this fellow wouldn't give up. 49:31 Not only did he have to try to teach the parrot new words, he 49:35 had to try to get the parrot to abandon the old ones. And so 49:39 whenever the parrot would utter one of these old words there was 49:42 some kind of reward/punishment mechanism. I don't know what 49:46 they did, but eventually it abandoned the bar room songs 49:50 and started to sing Onward Christian Soldiers and he 49:53 taught it a number of nice greetings. Now here's the 49:57 amazing part of this amazing fact. Polly died in 1972 at the 50:02 age of 126 years of age. And if you go right now up there to 50:07 the grave that they've got outside the Carcrass Inn in 50:13 Alaska they've got a large bronze monument to Polly the 50:20 Carcrass parrot who learned a new kind of language and a new 50:25 kind of song. So there's hope for you, right? If a parrot can 50:30 do this you can do it too. Didn't change its environment 50:35 But changed its ways. I'm glad that we have a God who does not 50:41 change but who believes in making all things new. Amen? 50:44 And this explains the paradox. I think it would be good for us 50:48 to sing #100. We're going to sing and old song, it was once 50:52 new. Great Is Thy Faithfulness. Let's stand together. 50:56 ¤ ¤ 51:07 Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father. 51:15 There is no shadow of turning with thee; 51:22 Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not; 51:33 As Thou has been Thou forever wilt be. 51:42 Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! 51:52 Morning by morning new mercies I see; 52:00 All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, 52:10 Great is Thy faithfulness! Lord unto me! 52:20 Before we sing the third verse we talked about getting a new 52:26 heart. Some of you may be changing where you shouldn't, 52:30 and be stuck in a rut where you ought to change. You can come 52:34 to the Lord just like you are and say Lord I don't want to 52:38 try to be saved based on a vain faith in tradition. I know I 52:42 need a new heart. I need a personal relationship with you. 52:45 Will you please change my heart. He can do that. He is faithful. 52:50 His love for you is constant. Our love you know sometimes is 52:54 dictated by feelings. We might make a decision of love but 52:58 our feelings affect our love. God's love for you is constant. 53:03 It's not influenced in any other way. And if you'd like to say 53:07 Lord I'd like to come. I have some special prayer. I need to 53:11 make a change in my life and I need your help. As we sing the 53:15 last verse, we'll have special prayer for you, use this 53:18 opportunity. 53:19 Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth 53:28 Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide; 53:36 Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow 53:45 Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside. 53:54 Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! 54:02 Morning by morning new mercies I see; 54:10 All I have needed Thy hand hath provided, 54:21 Great is Thy faithfulness! Lord unto me! 54:31 Amen. And you sounded very good by the way singing. It's nice to 54:36 have the organ and the piano together, Amen? It's beautiful. 54:44 Let's pray. Our dear Father, Lord we sometimes sense this 54:49 paradox, a contradiction in what needs to stay eternally 54:54 the same and what needs to change. Help us to sort out the 54:58 difference sometimes Lord but between the new and the old 55:02 cloth and the new and the old wine, what is manmade tradition 55:06 and what are eternal principles. I pray also for our church, Lord 55:11 First as a group that we will cling to the eternal principles 55:16 of truth, the commandments of God and will know how to also 55:20 sing a new song to you, to make the changes when necessary. 55:24 And then in our lives as individuals Lord there are some 55:29 things that are constant that I pray we can be just absolutely 55:33 firm in resolve and unyielding in. And then there are other 55:38 things that need change. Lord I pray that if we are stuck in 55:42 this rut that you help us to come out of it that we can have 55:47 a fresh, new, vital experience with you every day, that we can 55:52 be following you wherever you lead and be willing to be 55:56 pliable in your hands and yet at the same time be firm in 56:00 hanging on to the truth and the word that does not change. 56:04 We're thankful for your love for us that is constant and not 56:09 influenced by politics or environment or feelings. 56:13 And I pray that each of can trust our lives into your hands 56:17 knowing that your love for us is constant. Please forgive us 56:22 for our sins, Lord. Give us new hearts. Be with each person here 56:26 those in a special way who have responded to the altar call 56:29 today and I pray that we can all leave this place being new every 56:34 morning because of your grace and your mercy. It's in Jesus' 56:37 name we ask, Amen. 56:40 The escalation of terrorism, global instability, crime, 56:44 violence and natural disasters indicate our world is plummeting 56:49 toward its final hour with destiny. Who will survive the 56:52 final events of earth's history? Does the Bible give any answers? 56:56 Pull back the veil of uncertainty. Know the future 57:01 today. Join us as Amazing Facts presents Bibleuniverse.com. This 57:05 stellar website will guide to places you've never been before 57:10 and answer many questions you have about Bible prophecy. 57:14 Discover what the Bible says about the rapture, the mark of 57:17 the beast, and Armageddon. Journey into the future and 57:21 explore the mind and will of God at bibleuniverse.com. Expand 57:27 your universe today. 57:31 Thank you for joining us for this broadcast. If you've missed 57:39 any of our Amazing Facts programs visit our website at 57:42 amazingfacts.org. There you'll find an archive of all our 57:45 television and radio programs including Amazing Facts Presents 57:48 Central Study Hour, The Everlasting Gospel, Bible 57:51 Answer Live and Wonders in the Word. You'll also find a 57:54 storehouse of biblical resources geared towards answering some 57:57 of your most difficult questions and our online Bible school is 58:00 just a click away. One location, so many possibilities. |
Revised 2014-12-17