No New Thing Under the Sun
Audio: Some Things Never Change
This world is a world of change. Humanity gets bored very quickly and they have to change things. Some may blame it on the weather. When it’s hot, you long for winter and then on the cold mornings you wish you could have a hot day. Wouldn’t it be nice if every day was the same? Mild and pleasant, truly spring days are the most pleasant. Change often comes as the result of indecision or inconsistency. Have you ever dealt with someone who is constantly changing their mind? One day they say yes I will do this and they make a promise and the next day they haven’t done it? The next day they say I changed my mind. Friends in this world can be very inconsistent. One of the greatest pains of humanity today is the unreliability of this world, the weather. Weather forecasters of today do not get it right. The unreliability of machinery and technology. About ten years ago I worked for a mining company supporting their technology and at 3.00 am I would be woken up to go back to the mine site to resolve this issue. Churches today are unreliable. Friends, family, what is there today that is actually reliable. Man is battling away on the ocean seeking something firm and solid.
57:21 [There is] no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
Does that not describe the world today? Water is described in the bible as nations, peoples and tongues. Heaving and surging.
The Inconsistency of Man
What causes the change?
James 1:8 A double minded man [is] unstable in all his ways.
There is a condition in the medical world called the bipolar disorder and everyone has this disorder. Man is always changing his mind as he has multiple minds to change into. One day he can be thinking this and the next second thinking that. We need something that can be relied upon. A time is coming when this whole earth is going to reel to and fro like a drunkard, like a boat tossed about in the ocean. In that time we want something that will remain. Some are seeking to enter this rest yet how many fail of it?
Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
We say yes lord I will be a Christian, I will be like Jesus. Are you like Jesus? Are you finding it hard in this crazy world to be a Christian? To stay true to that thought instead of changing your mind?
Revelation 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Here God is saying make up your mind, stop changing your life where one day you are committed and the next day you are compromising.
Proverbs 24:21 My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: [and] meddle not with them that are given to change:
24:22 For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
Do we find in our midst there are people constantly given to change? It says stay away from them. We thank the Lord that sanctification is a work of a lifetime and as God is long suffering toward us, likewise we are to be with others. We are admonished that those who are going to take up the name and not live that name, from such turn away. We need to be consistent Christians. We need to say okay I’m going to reform my life and do it.
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
We have people that walking in our door and they sit down on our chairs and they listen and then afterwards they testify of how beautiful, true, healing and nourishing that the word they heard was and they even say yes I will come back next week but they don’t come back. If you walk through that door, stay in that door. Christ is saying be hot or be cold. Either be for me or against me. Don’t sit on the fence, one or the other, make up your mind. We are to find stability of mind and stick to it.
Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more [shall not] we [escape], if we turn away from him that [speaketh] from heaven:
12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
12:27 And this [word], Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
How did the devil go? How successful is he in shaking your resolve? Perhaps a little minute instruction from the Lord comes in regard to your lifestyle or in the pew or as you study at home, and you think I want to do that and you make a commitment in your heart and you go to do it and it is not as easy as you hoped it would be, I will try again next week. We are in the shaking time and if our resolve can be shaken, we will not remain. Only those that will be consistent shall not be moved.
Psalms 15:1 A Psalm of David. LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?
15:2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.
15:3 [He that] backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.
15:4 In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the LORD. [He that] sweareth to [his own] hurt, and changeth not.
15:5 [He that] putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these [things] shall never be moved.
Who will never be moved? Those that swear to their own hurt. What does that mean? It means that if you make a resolve, if you make a vow, that you will fulfill that vow no matter what it costs even if it means the very life blood is sucked out. He that changes not, he that is not double minded.
There are many in the church who at heart belong to the world, {RH, January 9, 1894 par. 10}
Where are they? In the church but in the heart the world.
but God calls upon those who claim to believe the advanced truth, to rise above the present attitude of the popular churches of today. Where is the self-denial, where is the cross-bearing that Christ has said should characterize his followers? {RH, January 9, 1894 par. 10}
Where do you see it today? Where amongst the churches today do we see self-denial. Self-denial required inconsistency in keeping the word and staying true to that resolve.
The reason we have had so little influence upon unbelieving relatives and associates is that we have manifested little decided difference in our practices from those of the world. {RH, January 9, 1894 par. 10}
How often does Christian think today we will compromise a little and slowly win them over. How often do we go amongst our families where we say I don’t want to offend them so we comprise? How is your influence? The sop testifies we are too compromising.
Parents need to awake, and purify their souls by practicing the truth in their home life. When we reach the standard that the Lord would have us reach, worldlings will regard Seventh-day Adventists as odd, singular, straight-laced extremists. {RH, January 9, 1894 par. 10}
That is comforting as we must be somewhat on the right road here as we’ve been called that. But we are not there yet. The shaking must continue and we must become firmer and firmer. Straight laced extremists, singular, they are not nice names but it’s better to??
A consistent Christian life will accomplish more good than could be accomplished by many sermons. {LP 299.2}
No man can exert an influence for Christ, unless he is a decided and consistent Christian. {RH, June 20, 1882 par. 4}
Why is it that we are so inconsistent and fluctuating and vacillating and changing in our purposes? Here is the answer that why we are not yet in heaven;
Colossians 3:2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
We have heart strings, we have natural affections and these have been attached to the earth. When we want to go one way there is another force that comes in to work against that. What we set our affections on will determine our consistency.
It is a law both of the intellectual and the spiritual nature that by beholding we become changed. The mind gradually adapts itself to the subjects upon which it is allowed to dwell. {GC 555.1}
Why are we inconsistent? Our mind is constantly changing, we are setting our mind on different things so our resolve fluctuates and changes. We see it very much so in the world today. It is very hard it seems for a human being to have their own individuality. The young men and women out there they model themselves on someone else. Some movie star, a singer, the way in which they talk, they brush their hair and their clothing, it is dependent upon that which they fix their affection. If we want to be consistent Christians our affections must be on Jesus Christ. If we take our eyes of him we will fluctuate in our Christian walk. We need to behold constantly a model which is consistent. Something which will remain constant.
Something That Does not Change
Something we can anchor our heart, mind, soul and affections on.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
Change and decay in all around I see and by beholding we will become changed. If we are permitting our affections to dwell upon this earth, change and decay will be our experience but if we are focusing on Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever, then we shall not be moved. Something to focus on and let sink deep within your being. Keep on an even keel as the wicked are like a troubled sea.
We are forming characters for heaven. No character can be complete without trial and suffering. We must be tested, we must be tried. Christ bore the test of character of our behalf that we might bear this test in our own behalf through the divine strength He has brought to us. Christ is our example in patience, in forbearance, in meekness and lowliness of mind. He was at variance and at war with the whole ungodly world, yet He did not give way to passion and violence manifested in words and actions, although receiving shameful abuse in return for good works. He was afflicted, He was rejected and despitefully treated, yet He retaliated not. He possessed self-control, dignity, and majesty. He suffered with calmness and for abuse gave only compassion, pity, and love. . . . {TDG 263.2}
Have you ever been abused, afflicted, rejected and despitefully treated? It’s amazing how quickly your resolve can change when you meet those experiences. When someone steps on your toes ouch, isn’t that your instant reaction? Jesus suffered to with calmness. We are called to suffer. We make a resolve to suffer. We have been educated that if we are going to build that tower there is suffering involved and we have counted the cost.
Imitate your Redeemer in these things. Do not get excited when things go wrong. Do not let self arise, and lose your self-control because you fancy things are not as they should be. Because others are wrong is no excuse for you to do wrong. Two wrongs will not make one right. You have victories to gain in order to overcome as Christ overcame. {TDG 263.3}
Christ came as you and I. Your sinful flesh was his sinful flesh, the trials, tribulations were his.
Those who love and obey the law of Jehovah will meet with trial and temptation; but these are only what Jesus met, {RH, February 6, 1900 par. 11}
Those trials that want to weaken our resolve Jesus met.
Christ never murmured, never uttered discontent, displeasure, or resentment. He was never disheartened, discouraged, ruffled, or fretted. He was patient, calm, and self-possessed under the most exciting and trying circumstances. All His works were performed with a quiet dignity and ease, whatever commotion was around Him. Applause did not elate Him. He feared not the threats of His enemies. He moved amid the world of excitement, of violence and crime, as the sun moves above the clouds. Human passions and commotions and trials were beneath Him. He sailed like the sun above them all. {TDG 263.4}
Does that make you jealous? Is it your experience? Look at that, seriously. Meeting your experiences and just seemingly having an easy time with them.
Yet He was not indifferent to the woes of men. His heart was ever touched with the sufferings and necessities of His brethren, as though He Himself was the one afflicted. He had a calm inward joy, a peace which was serene. His will was ever swallowed up in the will of His Father. Not My will but Thine be done, was heard from His pale and quivering lips.–Letter 51a, Sept. 11, 1874, to Edson and Emma White. {TDG 263.4}
He went through it and sailed over it so you can learn today how to sail over it. He did not have an easy time. He had it harder than any of us ever could but he was consistent. He was consistent in looking upon that which was consistent and of God is written there is no variableness or turning. Ought we to be ashamed of our change mindedness? Should we be ashamed of our inconsistent Christianity?
Ecclesiastes 1:9 The thing that hath been, it [is that] which shall be; and that which is done [is] that which shall be done: and [there is] no new [thing] under the sun.
1:10 Is there [any] thing whereof it may be said, See, this [is] new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.
Have you ever gone through a trial and thought no one has ever gone through this before. Can you say see this is new? Your experiences which are have already been, Jesus Christ has already lived. He has already experienced and endured it. That which you make in your exp today which is hard and powerful in seeking to sway your mind away from your resolve he has already met it and he has already set his face like a flint and stuck true to principle. There is no new thing under the sun. how often we apply this verse and we look at history and the occurrence of the nations and the cycle of humanity. There is no new thing in your experience. Your tears that you cry, that grieve your heart, perhaps your own inconsistency.
Psalm 56:8 Thou tellest my wanderings: put thou my tears into thy bottle: [are they] not in thy book?
The book that Jesus Christ is the author of, today we are just reading it. Our lives are but a manifestation of the exp that Jesus has already met. There is no need for us to become disheartened and fluctuating in our resolve and discouraged when we do fluctuate. We can get up again. Be hot or cold. I know you can be hot for me. The words I share I share with my own self. I am not as consistent as I should be. I am not as resolute as I should be. I am certain that in my lack of resolve I often set bad examples. I thank the lord for his long suffering. When we focus on Jesus Christ we are put to shame. And we should focus on him so much more that we should be put to shame. If he does not change meeting the same circumstances as us in the same flesh, what excuse have we? It is true we often say I am a sinful human being and because I am I have an excuse. Looking at Jesus Christ we see we don’t. There is one sinful nature that does not fluctuate. When we see this and when we see Jesus Christ we will hang our head in shame for our lack of consistency. Sempre idem is Latin for always the same. That is the very words Rome uses to describe themselves. Rome never changes. The wicked are like a troubled sea and a double minded man unstable in all his way. Have you met a stable Muslim, catholic, protestant or atheist? There are many people in this world today who are not double minded. They make up their mind and stick to it. They are faithful and true to the principles they have. I have found the faithfulness of the faithless to be far stronger than I am to my faith.
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