2358. The Unchangeable Christ

No. 2358-40:193. A Sermon Delivered On Thursday Evening, February 23, 1888, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

A Sermon Intended For Reading On Lord’s Day, April 29, 1894.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. {Heb 13:8}

 For other sermons on this text:
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 170, “Immutability of Christ, The” 163}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 848, “Jesus Christ Immutable” 839}
   {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2358, “Unchangeable Christ, The” 2359}
   Exposition on Heb 13:1-21 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3150, “Never, No Never, No Never” 3151 @@ "Exposition"}
   Exposition on Heb 13 {See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2358, “Unchangeable Christ, The” 2359 @@ "Exposition"}

1. Let me read to you the verse that comes before our text. It is a good habit always to look at passages in their context. It is wrong, I think, to lay hold of small portions of God’s Word, and take them out of their context as you might pluck feathers from a bird; it is an injury to the Word; and, sometimes, a passage of Scripture loses much of its beauty, its true teaching, and its real meaning, by being taken from the context. No one would think of mutilating Milton’s poems so, taking a few lines out of Paradise Lost, and then imagining that he could really get at the heart of the poet’s power. So, always look at texts in the context in which they stand. The verse before our text is this, “Remember those who have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

2. Observe, then, that God’s people are a thoughtful people. If they are what they ought to be, they do a great deal of remembering and considering; that is the gist of this verse. If they are to remember and to consider their earthly leaders, how much more are they to remember that great Leader, the Lord Jesus, and all those matchless truths which fell from his blessed lips. I wish, in these days, that professing Christians did remember and did consider a great deal more; but we live in such a flurry, and hurry, and worry, that we do not get time for thought. Our noble forefathers of the Puritan kind were men with backbone, men of solid tread, independent and self-contained men, who could hold their own in the day of conflict; and the reason was because they took time to meditate, time to keep a diary of their daily experiences, time to commune with God in secret. Take the hint, and try and do a little more thinking; in this busy London, and in these trying days, remember and consider.

3. My next remark is, that God’s people are an imitative people, for we are told here that they are to remember those who are their leaders, those who have spoken the Word of God to them, “whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct.” There is an itching, nowadays, after originality, striking out a path for yourself. When sheep do that, they are bad sheep. Sheep follow the shepherd; and, in a measure, they follow each other when they are all together following the shepherd. Our Great Master never strove for originality; he said that he did not even speak his own words, but the words that he had heard from his Father. He was docile and teachable; as the Son of God, and the servant of God, his ear was open to hear the instructions of the Father, and he could say, “I always do those things that please him.” Now, that is the true path for a Christian to take, to follow Jesus, and, as a result, to follow all such true saints as may be worthy of being followed, imitating the godly as far as they imitate Christ. The apostle puts it, “whose faith follow.” Many young Christians, if they were to pretend to strike out a path for themselves, must infallibly fall into many sorrows, whereas by taking some note of the way in which more experienced and more instructed Christians have gone, they will keep by the way of the footsteps of the flock, and they will also follow the footprints of the Shepherd. God’s people are a thoughtful people, and they are an imitative and humble people, willing to be instructed, and willing to follow holy and godly examples.

4. One good reason, however, for imitating saints is given in our text; it is because our Lord and his faith are always the same: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” You see, if the old foundation moved, if our faith was always changing, then we could not follow any of the saints who have gone before us. If we have a religion especially for this century, it is ridiculous for us to imitate the men of the first century, and Paul and the apostles are just old fogies who are left behind in the far-distant ages. If we are to go on improving from century to century, I cannot point you to any of the reformers, or the confessors, or the saints in the brave days of old, and say to you, “Learn from their example,” because, if religion has altogether changed and improved, it is a curious thing to say, but we ought to set an example to our ancestors. Of course, they cannot follow it because they have gone from the earth; but since we know so much better than our forefathers, we cannot think of learning anything from them. Since we have left the apostles all behind, and gone in for something quite new, it is a pity that we should not forget what they did, and what they suffered, and think that they were just a set of simpletons who acted up to their own light, but then they did not have the light we have in this wonderful century! Oh beloved, it almost makes my lips blister to talk in the present evil way, for grosser falsehood never could be uttered than the insinuation that we have moved the everlasting foundations of our faith. Truly, if these foundations were moved, we might ask in many senses, “What shall the righteous do? Whom shall they copy? Whom shall they follow? The landmarks having gone, what remains for us of the holy treasury of example with which the Lord enriches those who follow Christ?”

5. I. Coming to our text, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever,” my first observation is, that JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF IS ALWAYS THE SAME. He is, was, and will be always the same.

6. There have been changes of position and of circumstances in our Lord, but he is always the same in his great love for his people, whom he loved even before the earth was. Before the first star was kindled, before the first living creature began to sing the praise of its Creator, he loved his Church with an everlasting love. He saw her in the telescope of predestination, pictured her by his divine foreknowledge, and loved her with all his heart; and it was for this reason that he left his Father, and became one with her, so that he might redeem her. It was for this reason that he went with her through all this vale of tears, discharged her debts, and bore her sins in his own body on the tree. For her sake he slept in the tomb, and with the same love that brought him down he has gone up again, and with the same heart beating true to the same blessed betrothal he has gone into glory, waiting for the marriage day when he shall come again, to receive his perfected spouse, who shall have made herself ready by his grace. Never for a moment, whether as God over all, blessed for ever, or as God and man in one divine person, or as dead and buried, or as risen and ascended, never has he changed in the love he bears for his chosen. He is “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

7. Therefore, beloved brethren, he has never changed in his divine purpose towards his beloved Church. He resolved in eternity to become one with her, so that she might become one with him; and, having determined this, when the fulness of time had come, he was born of a woman, made under the law, he took on him the likeness of sinful flesh, “and being found in the form of a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross.” Yet he never abandoned his purpose, he set his face like a flint to go up to Jerusalem; even when the bitter cup was put to his lips, and he seemed to stagger for a moment, he returned to it with a strong resolve, saying to his Father, “If it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will.” That purpose is strong in him now; for Zion’s sake he will not hold his peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake he will not rest, until her righteousness goes out as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. Jesus is still pressing on with his great work, and he will not fail nor be discouraged in it. He will never be content until all whom he has bought with blood shall become also glorified by his power. He will gather all his sheep in the heavenly fold, and they shall pass again under the hand of him who counts them, every one of them being brought there by the great Shepherd who laid down his life for them. Beloved, he cannot turn from his purpose; it is not according to his nature that he should, for he is “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

8. He is also “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever,” in the holding of his offices for the carrying out of his purpose, and demonstrating his love. He is still a Prophet. Men try to set him aside. Science, falsely so-called, comes forward, and tells him to hold his tongue; but “the sheep follow him, for they know his voice; and they will not follow a stranger, but will flee from him: for they do not know the voice of strangers.” The teachings of the New Testament are as sound and true today as they were almost two millennia ago; they have lost none of their value, none of their absolute certainty; they stand firm like the everlasting hills. Jesus Christ was a Prophet, and he is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

9. He is the same, too, as a Priest. Some now sneer at his precious blood; alas, that it should be so! But, to his elect, his blood is still their purchase price, by this they overcome, through the blood of the Lamb they win the victory; and they know that they shall praise it in heaven, when they have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. They never turn away from this great Priest of theirs, and his wondrous sacrifice, once offered for the sins of men, and perpetually efficacious for all the blood-bought race; they glory in his everlasting priesthood before the Father’s throne. In this we do rejoice, yes, and will rejoice, that Jesus Christ is our Priest, “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

10. And as King he is for ever the same. He is supreme in the Church. Before you, oh Jesus, all your loyal subjects bow! All the sheaves make obeisance to your sheaf; the sun and moon and all the stars obey and serve you, you King of kings, and Lord of lords. You are Head over all things to your Church, which is your body. Beloved, if there is any other office which our Lord has assumed for the accomplishment of his divine purposes, we may say of him, concerning every position, that he is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

11. So also, once more, he is the same in his relationship to all his people. I like to think that, as Jesus was the Husband of his Church ages ago, he is still her Husband, for he hates divorce. Just as he was the Brother born for adversity to his first disciples, so he is still our faithful Brother. Just as he was a Friend who sticks closer than a brother to those who were severely tried in the medieval times, so he is equally a Friend to us on whom the ends of the age have come. There is no difference whatever in the relationship of the Lord Jesus Christ to his people at any time. He is just as ready to comfort us tonight as he was to comfort those with whom he lived when here below. Sister Mary, he is as willing to come down to your Bethany, and help you in your sorrow about Lazarus, as he was at the time when he came to Martha and Mary whom he loved. Jesus Christ is just as ready to wash your feet, my brother, after another day’s weary travel through the foul ways of this world; he is as willing to take the basin, pitcher, and the towel, and to give us a loving cleansing, as he did when he washed his disciples’ feet. Just what he was to them he is to us. It is happy if you and I can truly say, “What he was to Peter, what he was to John, what he was to the Magdalene, that is Jesus Christ to me, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

12. Beloved, I have seen men change; oh, how they change! A little frost turns the green forest to bronze, and every leaf forsakes its hold, and yields to it’s winter’s blast. So our friends fade, and the most attached adherents drop away from us in the time of trial; but Jesus is to us what he always was. When we get old and grey-headed, and others shut the door on men who have lost their former strength, and can serve their purpose no longer, then he will say, “I will carry you even to hoar hairs: I have made, and I will bear; I will even carry, and will deliver you,” for he is “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” So much, beloved, with regard to Jesus himself; he is always the same.

13. II. Now let us go a step further. JESUS CHRIST IS ALWAYS THE SAME IN HIS DOCTRINE.

14. This text must refer to the doctrine of Christ, since it is connected with imitating the saints’ faith: “Whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. Do not be carried away with various and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart is established with grace.” From the context it is evident that our text refers to the teaching of Christ, who is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” This is not according to the “development” folly. Theology, like every other science, is to grow, watered by the splendid wisdom of this enlightened age, fostered by the superlative ability of the gentlemen of light and leading of the present time, so much superior to all who came before them!

15. We do not think so, brethren; for the Lord Jesus Christ was the perfect revelation of God. He was the express image of the Father’s person, and the brightness of his glory. In previous ages, God had spoken to us by his prophets; but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. Now as for what was a complete revelation, it is blasphemous to suppose that there can be any more revealed than has been made known in the person and work of Jesus Christ the Son of God. He is God’s ultimatum; last of all, he sends his Son. If you can conceive a brighter display of God than is to be seen in the Only-Begotten, I thank God that I am unable to follow you in any such imagination. To me, he is the last, the highest, the grandest revelation of God; and as he concludes the Book that contains the written revelation, he tells you never dare to take from it, lest he should take your name out of the Book of life, and never dare to add to it, lest he should add to you the plagues that are written in this Book.

16. At this time, the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ is the same as it was in all ages. Jesus Christ still saves sinners from the guilt, the power, the punishment, and the defilement of sin. Still, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Jesus Christ still makes all things new; he creates new hearts and right spirits in the sons of men, and inscribes his law on the tablets which once were stone, but which he has turned into flesh. There is no new salvation; some may talk as if there were, but there is not. Salvation means to you today just what it meant to Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus; if you think it has another meaning, you have missed it altogether.

17. And, again, salvation by Jesus Christ comes to men in the same way as it ever did. They have to receive it now by faith; in Paul’s day, men were saved by faith, and they are not now saved by works. They began in the Spirit in the apostolic age, and we are not now to begin in the flesh. There is no indication in the Book, and there is no indication in the experience of God’s children, that there ever is to be any alteration concerning the way in which we receive Christ, all live by him. “By grace you are saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” the gift of God today as much as it ever was, for Jesus Christ “is the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

18. Once more, this salvation is just the same concerning the people to whom it is sent. It is to be preached now, as ever, to every creature under heaven; but it appeals with a particular power to those who are guilty, and who confess their guilt, to hearts that are broken, to men who are weary and heavy laden. It is to these that the gospel comes with great sweetness. I have quoted to you before those strange words of Joseph Hart, —

    A sinner is a sacred thing,
    The Holy Ghost hath made him so.

He is; the Saviour is only for sinners. He did not come to save the righteous, he came to seek and to save the lost, and still “to you the word of this salvation is sent”; and this declaration still stands true, “This man receives sinners, and eats with them.” There is no change in this statement, “the poor have the gospel preached to them,” and it comes to those who are farthest off from God and hope, and inspires them with divine power and energy.

19. Beloved, I can bear witness that the gospel is the same in its effects on the hearts of men. Still it breaks, and still it makes whole; still it wounds, and still it heals; still it kills, and still it quickens; still it seems to hurl man down to hell in their terrible experience of the evil of sin, but still it lifts them up into an ecstatic joy, until they are exalted almost to heaven when they lay hold on it, and feel its power in their souls. The gospel that was a gospel of births and deaths, of killing and making alive, in the days of John Bunyan, has just the same effect on our hearts to this day, when it comes with the power that God has put into it by his Spirit. It produces the same results, and has the same sanctifying influence as it ever had.

20. Looking beyond the narrow stream of death, we can say that the eternal results produced by the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ are the same as they ever were. Today the promise is fulfilled for those who receive him as much as for any who went before; eternal life is their inheritance, they shall sit with him on his throne; and, on the other hand, the threatening is equally sure of fulfilment: “These shall go away into everlasting punishment.” “He who does not believe shall be damned.” Christ has made no change in his words of promise or of threatening, nor will his followers dare to do so, for his doctrine is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

21. If you were to try to think this matter over, and imagine for a minute that the gospel really did move and change with the times, it would be very extraordinary. See, here is the gospel for the first century; make a mark, and note how far it goes. Then there is a gospel for the second century; make another mark, but then remember that you must change the colour to another shade. Either these people must have altered, or else a very different effect must have been produced in the same kind of minds. In eternity, when they all get to heaven by these nineteen gospels in the nineteen centuries, there will be nineteen sets of people, and they will sing nineteen different songs, depend on it, and their music will not blend. Some will sing of “free grace and dying love,” while others will sing of “evolution.” What a discord it would be, and what a heaven it would be, too! I should decline to be a candidate for such a place. No, let me go where they praise Jesus Christ and him alone, singing, “To him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” That is what the first-century saints sing; indeed, and it is what the saints of every century will sing, without any exception; and there will be no change in this song for ever. The same results will flow from the same gospel until heaven and earth shall pass away, for Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

22. III. We may sound the same note again, for a moment, because JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME CONCERNING HIS MODES OF WORKING: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

23. How did Jesus Christ save souls in the olden time? “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, to save those who believe”; and if you will look down through church history, you will find that, wherever there has been a great revival of religion, it has been linked with the preaching of the gospel. When the Methodists began to do so much good, what did they call the men who made such a stir? “Methodist preachers,” did they not say? That was always the name, “Here comes a Methodist preacher.” Ah, my dear friends, the world will never be saved by Methodist doctors, or by Baptist doctors, or anything of the kind; but multitudes will be saved, by God’s grace, through preachers. It is the preacher to whom God has entrusted this great work. Jesus said, “Preach the gospel to every creature.” But men are getting tired of the divine plan; they are going to be saved by the priest, going to be saved by the music, going to be saved by theatrics, and no one knows what else! Well, they may try these things as long as they as like; but nothing can ever come of the whole thing but utter disappointment and confusion, God dishonoured, the gospel travestied, hypocrites manufactured by thousands, and the church dragged down to the level of the world. Stick to your guns, brethren, and go on preaching and teaching nothing but the Word of God, for it still pleases God, by the foolishness of preaching, to save those who believe; and this text still stands true, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

24. But remember that there must always be the prayers of the saints with the preaching of the gospel. You must have often noticed that passage in the Acts concerning the new converts on the day of Pentecost, “They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine”: they thought a great deal about doctrine in those days. “And fellowship”: they thought a good deal of being in church fellowship in those days. “And in breaking of bread”: they did not neglect the blessed ordinance of the Lord’s supper in those days: “In breaking of bread.” And then what follows? “And in prayers.” Some say, nowadays, that prayer meetings are religious expedients pretty well worn out. Ah, dear me! What a religious expedient that was that brought about Pentecost, when they were all assembled with one accord in one place, and when the whole church prayed, and suddenly the place was shaken, and they heard the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, that indicated the presence of the Holy Spirit! Well, you may try to do without prayer meetings if you like; but my solemn conviction is that, as these decline, the Spirit of God will depart from you, and the preaching of the gospel will be of little value. The Lord will have the prayers of his people to go with the proclamation of his gospel if it is to be the power of God to salvation, and there is no change in this matter since Paul’s day, Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” God is still to be enquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them, and he still grants blessings in answer to believing prayer.

25. Remember, too, that the Lord Jesus Christ has always been inclined to work by the spiritual power of his servants. Nothing comes out of a man that is not first in him. You will not find God’s servants doing great things for him, unless God works mightily in them, as well as by them. You must first yourself be endued with power from on high, or else the power will not reveal itself in what you do. Beloved, we want our church members to be better men and better women; we want baby-Christians to become men-Christians; and we want the men-Christians among us to be “strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.” God will work by his servants when they are adapted to his service; and he will make his instruments fit for his work. It is not in themselves that they have any strength; their weakness becomes the reason why his strength is seen in them. Still, there is an adaptation, there is a fitness for his service, there is a cleanness that God puts on his instruments before he works mighty things by them; and Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever,” in this matter, too.

26. All the good that is ever done in the world is accomplished by the Holy Spirit; and just as the Holy Spirit honours Jesus Christ, so he puts great honour on the Holy Spirit. If you and I try, either as a church or as individuals, to do without the Holy Spirit, God will soon do without us. Unless we reverently worship him, and believingly trust in him, we shall find that we shall be like Samson when his locks were shorn. He shook himself as he had done previously; but when the Philistines were on him, he could do nothing against them. May our prayer always be, “Holy Spirit, dwell with me! Holy Spirit, dwell with your servants!” We know that we are utterly dependent on him. Such is the teaching of our Master, and Jesus Christ is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

27. IV. I do not want to weary you, my dear brethren; but may I be helped, just for a few moments, to speak on a fourth point! JESUS CHRIST ALWAYS HAS THE SAME RESOURCES, for he is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

28. I will repeat what I said, Jesus Christ always has the same resources. We sit down, sometimes, very sorrowful, and we say, “The times are very dark.” I do not think that we can very well exaggerate their darkness; and they are full of threatening omens, and I do not think that any of us can really exaggerate those omens, they are so terrible. But it is still true, “The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock.”

29. Does the Church feel her need of faithful men? The Lord can send us as many as ever. When the Pope ruled everywhere, no one thought, I should imagine, that the first man to speak out for the old faith would be a monk; they thought they had taken stock of all the men whom God had at his command, and they certainly did not think that he had one of the leaders of the Reformation in a monastery; but there was Martin Luther, “the monk who shook the world,” and though men did not dream of what he would do, God knew all about him. There was Calvin, also, writing that famous book of his Institutes. He was a man full of disease, I think he had sixty diseases at once in his body, and he suffered greatly. Look at his portrait, pale and wan; and as a young man he was very timid. He went to Geneva, and he thought he was called to write books; but Farel said to him, “You are called to lead us in preaching the gospel here in Geneva.” “No,” said Calvin, for he shrank from the task; but Farel said, “The blast of the Almighty God will rest on you unless you come out, and take your proper place.” Beneath the threat of that brave old man, John Calvin took his place, prompt and sincere in the work of God, in life and in death never faltering. Then there was Zwingli over there at Zurich, he had come out, too, and Oecolampadius, and Melancthon, and their associates, — who ever expected them to do what they did? No one. “The Lord gave the word, great was the company of those who proclaimed it.” And so, today, he only has to give the word, and you shall see springing up all over the world earnest preachers of the everlasting gospel, for he has the same resources as ever. He is “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

30. He also has the same resources of grace. The Holy Spirit is quite as able to convert men, to quicken, enlighten, sanctify, and instruct. There is nothing which he has done which he cannot do again; the treasures of God are as full and as running over now as they were in the beginning of the Christian age. If we do not see such great things, where does the restraining force lie? It is in our unbelief. “If you believe, all things are possible for him who believes” Before this year has gone, God can make a wave of revival break out over England, Scotland, and Ireland, from one end to the other, indeed, and he can deluge the whole world with the gospel if we will only cry to him for it, and he wills to do it, for he is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever,” in the resources of his grace.

31. V. So I close my sermon with this fifth point, on which I will be very short indeed, JESUS CHRIST IS ALWAYS THE SAME TO ME: “yesterday, and today, and for ever.” I will not talk about myself except to help you to think about yourselves. How long have you known the Lord Jesus Christ? Perhaps, only a short time; possibly, for many years. Do you remember when you first knew him? Can you point out the spot of ground where Jesus met you? Now, what was he to you at first? I will tell you what he was to me.

32. Jesus was to me at first my only trust. I leaned on him very hard then, for I had such a load to carry. I laid myself and my load down at his feet; he was all in all to me. I did not have a shred of hope outside of him, nor any trust beyond himself, crucified and risen for me. Now, dear brothers and sisters, have you gotten any further than that? I hope not; I know that I have not. I do not have a shadow of a shade of confidence anywhere except in Christ’s blood and righteousness. I leaned on him very hard at the first; but I lean harder now. Sometimes, I faint away into his arms; I have died into his life; I am lost in his fulness, he is all my salvation and all my desire. I am speaking for myself; but I think that I am speaking for many of you, too, when I say that Jesus Christ is to me “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” His cross, before my failing eyes, shall be my dying comfort as it is my living strength.

33. What was Jesus Christ to me at the first? He was the object of my warmest love; was it not so with you also? Was he not chief among ten thousand, and altogether lovely? What charms, what beauties, were there in that dear face of his! And what a freshness, what a novelty, what a delight, which set all our passions aflame! It was so in those early days when we went after him into the wilderness. Though all the world around was barren, he was all in all to us. Very well, what is he today? He is fairer to us now than he ever was. He is the one gem that we possess; our other jewels have all turned out to be only glass, and we have flung them from the jewel chest, but he is the Koh-i-noor {a} that our soul delights in; all perfections joined together to make one absolute perfection; all the graces adorning him, and overflowing to us. Is that not what we say of him? “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

34. What was Jesus Christ to me at the first? Well, he was my highest joy. In my young days, how my heart danced at the sound of his name! Was it not so with many of you? We may be huskier in voice, and heavier in body, and slower in moving our limbs, but his name has as much charm for us as it ever had. There was a trumpet that no one could blow but one who was the true heir, and there is no one who can ever bring the true music out of us but our Lord to whom we belong. When he sets me to his lips, you would think that I was one of the trumpets of the seven angels; but there is no one else who can make me sound like that. I cannot produce such music as that by myself; and there is no theme that can ravish my heart, there is no subject that can stir my soul, until I get to him. I think it is with me as it was with Rutherford, when the Duke of Argyle called out, as he began to preach about Christ, “Now, man, you are on the right string, keep to that.” The Lord Jesus Christ knows every key in our souls, and he can wake up our whole being to harmonies of music which shall set the world ringing with his praises. Yes, he is our joy, our everything, “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.”

35. Let us go forward, then, to the unchanging Saviour, through the changing things of time and sense; and we shall meet him soon in glory, and he will be unchanged even there, as compassionate and loving towards us when we shall go home to him, and see him in his splendour, as he was to his poor disciples when he himself had nowhere to lay his head, and was a sufferer among them.

36. Oh, do you know him? Do you know him? Do you know him? If not, may he tonight reveal himself to you, for his sweet mercy’s sake! Amen.

{a} Koh-i-noor: An Indian diamond, famous for its size and history, which became one of the British Crown jewels on the annexation of the Punjaub in 1849. OED.

Exposition By C. H. Spurgeon {Heb 13}

1. Let brotherly love continue.

It is supposed to be there already; let it continue, not only love of a common kind, such as we are to have towards all men, but that special “brotherly love” which Christians bear to each other as members of one family. “Let brotherly love continue.”

2. Do not forget to entertain strangers: for by it some have entertained angels unawares.

Abraham did so, and Lot did so; they thought they were entertaining ordinary strangers, and they washed their feet; and prepared their food but it turned out that they had entertained angels. Some people will never entertain angels unawares, for they never entertain anyone. May we be given to hospitality, for that should be part of the character of saints.

3. Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them;

Christian people who have gotten into trouble through being Christians, people who have been locked up in prison for righteousness’ sake; there were many such in Paul’s day. Sympathize with them, says the apostle, “as bound with them.”

3. And those who suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

So that, if you are not in adversity now, you may be before long. Therefore, have a sympathetic feeling for those who are in trouble. If you are not distressed yourself, you are not out of the reach of such a thing; therefore be tender towards your afflicted brethren.

4, 5. Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but fornicators and adulterers God will judge. Let your conduct be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for he has said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

There is a fortune for you, that is a pension to fall back on. You may very well be content to leave your temporal concerns in the hands of God, for he has said, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you.” Why, if you believe that one promise of God, he will be better to you than ten thousand friends who promise to provide for you! The Provider in heaven is better than any provider on earth. A beautiful motto is that of the old house of Chester, “God’s providence is my inheritance.”

6, 7. So that we may boldly say, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do to me.” Remember those who have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct:

It seems that there were special people, who were leaders in the Church of God, who were to be remembered, and thought about, and considered. They were set apart for this world: “those who have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the word of God.” They were leaders among the saints, and Paul would have the rank and file imitate them in their confident trust in the Lord Jesus Christ: “whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct”: —

8, 9. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. Do not be carried away with various and strange doctrines.

Do not believe one thing today, and another thing tomorrow; do not be carried away, like the thistle-down in the wind. Have a faith of your own, know what you believe, and stand by it firmly.

9, 10. For it is a good thing that the heart is established with grace; not with foods, which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. We have an altar,

Yes, true religion cannot exist without an altar, but what kind of altar is it? Is it a material altar? Far from it; but “we have an altar,” —

10. From which they have no right to eat who serve the tabernacle.

They have nothing to do with it, for they are still under the old ceremonial law; and those whose religion consists in outward rites and ceremonies can never eat from the spiritual altar where spiritual men eat, for they do not understand the Scripture, and they still serve the Mosaic tabernacle.

11-13. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, so that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Let us go out therefore to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach.

Outside the gate, was the place of Christ’s atoning death. “Outside the camp,” is the place where his servants will find themselves most at home.

14. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come.

We cannot stay in the condemned city; we must go outside its walls. Our Lord went out of the city to die, and we must go outside the camp to live.

15, 16. 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 do not forget to do good and to share: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Christian people should be always doing good. Just as God is always doing good, so we can never say we have done all we ought to do, and will do no more: “To do good and to share,” that is, to share from your substance, and of your charitable help, “do not forget.”

17-19. Obey those who have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as those who must give account, so 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 I rather beseech you to do this, that I may be restored to you all the sooner.

The movements of God’s servants may be controlled by prayer. You cannot tell how much of blessing will come to your own souls, through the ministry, if you are in the habit of praying about it. The man who comes up to God’s house, having prayed for God to bless the preacher, is not likely to go away unprofited.

20-25. Now the God of peace, who 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 what is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. And I beseech you, brethren, bear the word of exhortation: for I have written a letter to you in few words. Know that our brother Timothy is set at liberty; with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you. Greet all those who have the rule over you, and all the saints. Those from Italy greet you. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Does that blessing not seem to come across the centuries as fresh as if we heard the apostle speak it with his living lips? Oh, to feel it to be true tonight! “Grace be with you all. Amen.”

 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Jesus Christ, Names and Titles — Head Of The Church” 380}
 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Jesus Christ, In Heaven — Christ Glorified” 336}
 {See Spurgeon_Hymnal “God the Father, Attributes of God — The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth” 181}

Jesus Christ, Names and Titles
380 — Head Of The Church
1 Jesus, I sing thy matchless grace,
   That calls a worm thine own;
   Gives me among thy saints a place
   To make thy glories known.
2 Allied to thee, our vital Head,
   We act, and grow, and thrive:
   From thee divided, each is dead
   When most he seems alive.
3 Thy saints on earth, and those above,
   Here join in sweet accord:
   One body all in mutual love,
   And thou our common Lord.
4 Oh may my faith each hour derive
   Thy Spirit with delight;
   While death and hell in vain shall strive
   This bond to disunite.
5 Thou the whole body wilt present
   Before thy Father’s face!
   Nor shall a wrinkle or a spot
   Its beauteous form disgrace.
                  Philip Doddridge, 1755.

Jesus Christ, In Heaven
336 — Christ Glorified
1 The head that once was crown’d with thorns,
   Is crown’d with glory now;
   A royal diadem adorns
   The mighty Victor’s brow.
2 The highest place that heaven affords
   Is his, is his by right,
   The King of kings, and Lord of lords,
   And heaven’s eternal light.
3 The joy of all who dwell above,
   The joy of all below,
   To whom he manifests his love,
   And grants his Name to know.
4 We suffer with our Lord below,
   We reign with him above,
   Our profit and our joy to know
   The mystery of his love.
5 The cross he bore is life and health,
   Though shame and death to him;
   His people’s hope, his people’s wealth,
   Their everlasting theme.
                        Thomas Kelly, 1820.

God the Father, Attributes of God
181 — The Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth
1 The Lord is King; lift up thy voice,
   Oh earth, and all ye heavens rejoice:
   From world to world the joy shall ring,
   The Lord Omnipotent is King.
2 The Lord is King: who then shall dare
   Resist his will, distrust his care,
   Or murmur at his wise decrees,
   Or doubt his royal promises?
3 The Lord is King: child of the dust,
   The Judge of all the earth is just;
   Holy and true are all his ways,
   Let every creature speak his praise.
4 He reigns! ye saints, exalt your strains:
   Your God is King, your Father reigns;
   And he is at the Father’s side,
   The Man of love, the Crucified.
5 Come, make your wants, your burdens known;
   He will present them at the throne;
   And angel bands are waiting there,
   His messages of love to bear.
6 Oh! when his wisdom can mistake,
   His might decay, his love forsake,
   Then may his children cease to sing,
   The Lord Omnipotent is King.
                     Josiah Conder, 1824.