The Rick & Bubba Bible Study LIVE - Feb. 3, 2021

four three two welcome in uh to the wednesday bible study thank you for joining us however you are getting the bible study today uh whether you're watching it live right now on the ricky bubba youtube channel or or maybe you are listening to an archive uh on our podcast channel uh or maybe you're watching an archive here on the youtube channel however you are here with us today we are thankful that you are here we're going to continue uh the study if you're new let's say you're new to this my name is rick burgess i am the director of themanchurch.com and co-host of the ricky bubba show which is why you find us here in this studio and we have been doing a wednesday bible study here on the youtube channel and in this room for several years six years we've been in here most of those six years can be found at burgessministries.com by clicking on listen we did not archive every bible study from the beginning but a majority of them are found there uh you go back through uh many uh we did a lot we do expository walks through the bible word for word on on different books of the bible like what we're doing now sometimes we get into some commentaries and books that people written on topics sometimes we have a standalone bible study on a specific topic so there is mountains of content available to you if you ever want to go back and pick up things you missed in this series or any series from years past you can always find them there a couple of things i want to make you aware of speaking of the man church.com and i know there's women that join this wednesday bible study tonight now but it started foundationally as a men's bible study and at the man church.com we are a hub to provide resources for men's ministry we have curriculums uh we we have events uh we we we also have individual resources for individual men that may want to start their own small groups they might want to disciple their their sons uh or or maybe they just want to do this individually uh one of those uh the latter what i'm speaking about the individual resources is a series that we call how to be a man uh these started out as one uh 40 day devotional on the pursuit of christ-centered masculinity takes eight concepts of the bible and uh and the teachings of jesus or the person of jesus that we as men should look to as the perfect example of how to be a man we did a second one called real men of the bible same concept same structure but eight men of the bible that you do over 40 days our latest one just came out and it will complete the trilogy of the how to be a man devotional series and this is discovering what it means to be a disciple we have eight different authors each author takes a five-day subject and it talks about eight different concepts that are found in a disciple and what discipleship actually looks like what does it mean to be a disciple of jesus and we unpack that this is available now at themanchurch.com uh go there you can find this or any of our resources available there a couple things coming up well there's a lot coming uh down the pike a lot of churches a lot of communities are implementing uh the men's discipleship strategy that we have at themanchurch.com we've got a conference coming up in dothan uh on uh on february 19th and 20th steve farrar will be there rich wingo uh brody kroll i'll be speaking there our own chris adler will be leading worship with his brother and some other musicians that event is sold out uh it's at ridge crest baptist church but looking forward to seeing the men that will be attending february the 26th i'll be speaking at the men of valor event they'll kick off the men's discipleship strategy that's in columbus mississippi you'll find that fairview baptist church on february february 26 the very next night i'll be in montgomery alabama at the renaissance hotel and convention center this will be the becoming a man of god event they too will be working you into the man church.com and our discipleship strategy march 5th i'm invited to speak at the true grip men's conference that'll be in gadsden alabama at union number three baptist church march 7th and warrior alabama crossroads baptist church they start the men's discipleship strategy i'll be there for their first man church then they'll roll into that 40-week curriculum of their choice and then on march 12th i'll be doing the same thing and off alabama kicking them off into the men's discipleship strategy which features the high challenge these are the man churches are the events then they roll into the small groups doing our curriculum which is the high equipping and we kind of put you into a never-ending cycle of high challenge and high equipping and if you want to see some of those dates and be part of that maybe your church would like to kind of see how it works and come to some of these things or you as an individual man want to be there you just simply go to burgessministries.com uh look at the upcoming events you'll find them all listed there and others that'll be happening later in the year so if we come near you come on out and see us uh let's uh let's do a prayer let's open up and dive into what god has for us today lord jesus we love you we pray in your holy name uh we we submit to your authority uh lord help us to understand uh in this study the difference in knowing about you as opposed to knowing you as we draw ever closer to you today lord and i pray that our hearts are prepared to hear what you have to say in your holy name we pray amen session seven today uh of uh this is based off the book from j.i packer knowing god i can't tell you how many uh people that that i know that this book was used by god to to radically change their view for a lot of them it was the shift in their relationship uh understanding there's a difference i've been taught a lot about god but do i really know god and what's my motivation for knowing about god is it to have right answers or is it to truly know god and we also discovered through where we've already been it's god's desire that we know him so if we don't know him it's not lack of availability on his part it's probably lack of pursuit on our part uh so what we're going to tell we've been talking about these different concepts last week it was god incarnate and today i think it'll help it help me uh preparing for this and walking through this kind of changing our mindset on how we view the bible uh and when we're studying the bible sometimes the bible kind of kind of takes us into a new world you know a world that so many times so many times we'll you hear this a lot of times we'll be talking about this world that we enter into and j.i packer talks about that it's a world where we meet abraham and moses and david uh and and the rest and we watch god dealing with them we hear the prophets denouncing idolatry and threatening judgment upon sin uh then we get into the new testament where we see the man of galilee doing miracles arguing with the the the jewish leadership dying for sinners rising from the dead ascending to heaven then we get into reading letters from christian teachers directed against you know strange errors which so far as we know do not now exist we think and it's all intensely interesting but it all and this is where we make a mistake but sometimes when we don't look at the bible correctly it can seem far away it can seem like it belongs to another world that we are no longer living in and that's a mistake uh i have certainly been guilty of this and and there's a there's a great warning against this that but but here's where the wrong where we have the link wrong if we want to truly get into the word of god with the pursuit of not just knowing about god and not not just knowing about these times in history nothing wrong with that but that can't be our only motivation we want to get into the word of god to truly know god there's a link in the in in the bible to where we are now that is unchangeable and it's god now the times may change and cultures may change but god has never changed meaning you and i are pursuing to know the exact same god that abraham knew he hasn't changed nothing about him has changed it is the exact same god that came to those disciples and said if you've seen me you've seen the father god has not changed it doesn't matter how those men are dressed or what their occupation were or if they lived in an agricultural agricultural culture and i live in an industrial culture that doesn't really matter because god the god of the bible has never changed and we're going to really really really unpack that today so remember that so so we don't want that sense of remoteness from the biblical experience of god how do we overcome that the sense of remoteness is an illusion it comes from the adversary and it springs from from seeking like i just said the law the wrong link between our situation and that of various bible people people of biblical times that's not the link our link isn't to them our leak our link isn't to the the things that are going on now did jesus use these analogies that they understood of course he did would he probably use different analogies today if he were to come and call the 12 now yeah because he'd be looking at a different culture but he didn't change he's not changing with any of this and that's the part we have to get and that kind of will take away that illusion of remoteness to what we're learning in the bible about god versus god today the correct link is it's all the same god and i think if we can get that the link is god himself uh and that's where it is and if you're if you're trying to do it any other way you probably are easily led away to you're missing an intimacy with god because if you don't watch it and if i don't watch it if i take on the wrong link suddenly as distant as that time may seem to me god will seem equally distant does that make sense so so that's where we have to kind of change uh our way of of thinking we are not dealing with two different gods the god of the bible and then the god that i i have been redeemed by or i have a relationship today same god so so nothing's changed about that so let's let's take some of those concepts i'm going to walk through six concepts and if you have something to write on let's let's write these down okay concept number one god's life does not change okay uh he is um from uh from all eternity psalms 93 2 write that down here's what here's what the psalmist calls him the eternal king uh we have jeremiah 10 10 uh refers to him as the immortal god paul in you know the very very i'll tell you one thing it doesn't feel distant so what distant with i don't feel any distant between uh is the culture of romans chapter one and the one i'm living in now so that one doesn't feel so distant but anyway in romans chapter one verse 23 write that down paul said who alone is immortal first timothy 6 16 paul writes to young timothy before the mountains were born are you brought forth to this earth and and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are god uh the psalmist in psalms 92 says earth in heaven uh this is him will perish but you remain they will all wear out like a garment like clothing and you might change them and they'll be discarded but you got you remain the same and your years will never end underline that one psalms 90 and then read verse 2. i love that hey all of us will be discarded we'll change things will go away like old garments that we're out but you god you are timeless you remain the same and then of course isaiah 48 12 underline this isaiah 48 12 god himself says i am the first and i am the last i'm the alpha i'm the omega and of course there's that wonderful place in revelation chapter one when jesus himself says to john that he is the alpha and the omega once again saying that jesus and god are one so how many of you and this is not a hard question i don't want you to avoid this question because it's easy to answer based on all the verses we just talked about have you ever had a child or have you ever yourself had this question within who made god i've heard this many times throughout life i have to say that especially after i became redeemed that that question and i don't mean this because children it's different when a child asks that but when an adult asks that it's almost it seems silly to me because he's already said why that question is easily answered well well there has to be a beginning you're right 100 right he is he's the beginning he says i'm i'm the alpha and the mega i'm the beginning and the end well where did it all start well god said it started with him well who made god no one he always has been he's the beginning so this is what we have to understand that's why he's unchanging that's why today it's the same to him as when he's you know when moses is standing by the burning bush going hey i don't have no idea what your name is who am i supposed to say is is sending me and he says i am i have always been i am who i am i i've always been here remember remember jesus when everybody started ripping their clothes and all that how did you know abraham you're 30 years old you're 33 years old how do you know abraham well before abraham i i am oh my goodness you know here we go with all this so when a child or anyone asks you who made god the answer is well nobody made god because nothing began before god he is the beginning everything flows from him he created he didn't have to be created he creates but he didn't have to be he's not created he is the beginning of all things now it's mind-blowing but that really is the answer and and and this is the point that we're that is being made uh in the first concept about the the god of the bible is the god of today and and and that this god doesn't change so god did not need to be made for he has always been there he exists forever he's always the same he doesn't grow older his life does not wax or wane he does not gain new powers nor lose any he once had uh he doesn't mature he doesn't develop now watch out for that one oh well we got to make that clear because we are living in a time right now and the arrogance and the arrogance of human beings that have decided of their own accord there's no revelation about it there's no scripture on it they of their own accord they have decided that god needed to evolve they've decided it well isn't that a very lofty place to place yourself uh yeah god's standard of marriage that's changed where did you get that well i just believe he evolved i mean i just you know i just i just observe and it looks like to me that everything he's fight that's not his standard anymore but where where's the revelation about that well myself i've come up with that so once again here we are a created being looking at the creator and we're going to tell him what we would prefer him to be we'd like to see you evolve on this we're not pleased with who you are and see that that's really really problematic that gets into some of this stuff that we've discussed where we start trying to it it happened just just the other day and i sadly have heard people say this that are standing up in places of authority which is concerning that somehow god is not enough when we come into his presence i mean i hope we still get the bass fish i mean i mean i mean i i hope i hope i still get to go to ball games uh i i i just i don't know i mean so i mean so we're just going to be worshiping and and all of god and and his presence so you know hey hey look if it's going to be heaven then it's only heaven if it's the way i want it what kind of blasphemous statement is that i i mean how about the way god designed heaven i assure you is better than what you can do i assure you this is a fallen creation i i give bubba credit uh who is the co-host of the show for those you may not know and and uh my business partner he and i were standing uh at the continental divide i'll never forget this we're on snowmobiles and we took our families up into the mountains of colorado and we're looking at the continental divide and i mean it is majestic baby and if bubba said it right he said and this is his throwaway this is fallen what you see now look how incredible certain things are but this is not even it this is this this is going to be refined and tossed can you imagine the things that you experience when it's the way he intended it before we messed it up with our rebellion and somehow you're thinking that if you don't get to you know go the ball game or you're not going to get to go skiing or go down to the lake or go down to the the beach or you don't get to do this and my doggies not going to be there and and and if those things aren't there i just don't know that i'm going to like it i'd be careful with that attitude that's a dangerous attitude god is enough god is enough and and because he has always been and he is perfection in every way and praise god he's had grace of us thank you lord because you you were just fine without us and i know this new theology is out there that somehow we make god better no he makes us better and we certainly don't tell him what he is and isn't and we think he needs to mature a little bit or evolve on some of these outdated issues that is a blasphemous mindset so this is what a.w pink said about it he says he cannot change for the better for he is already perfect and being perfect he cannot change for the worse so the first fundamental difference between the creator and all of us created creatures is that we change but he doesn't he he can never cease to be what he is you understand that that's the thing that i tried to explain before about repentance and salvation i mean you've ever heard this before i just don't understand why god didn't just say okay sorry y'all sinned i'm god i'm over it let's move on we'll see because he can't cease being holy he can't say i think i'll i think i'm just going to not be as holy today so y'all can just take sin ushered in here in front of me i'll i'll change who i am no his holiness and his perfection it can't change so he has to change us for us to come into his presence because he cannot change the requirement that his holiness demands that can't be changed so man we should celebrate the fact that he realized the situation and resolved it for us so we could come back in this presence but i got news for you and i got news for me we're not going to walk into the presence of a perfect holy god without the redemption of jesus christ because it can't be done any other way because he can't change who he is but thank the lord he provided it it's now we got to be for that well i don't know about this salvation plan i don't like it i'm kind of fired up about it because without it i had no hope because he can't change who he is so he said i'll come take on human flesh i'll figure out like we talked about god incarnate i'll take on 100 man while remaining 100 god and i will resolve this issue so you then can be ushered back into my presence but we don't make him more holy he makes us more holy we got this thing all out of whack and but be careful some of the modern-day hymns good gracious you think god's singing about us all right so that that's the number one that's the number one thing we got to talk about god's life does not change he doesn't change and we could have gone on and on with more scriptures i love this last one from the writer of hebrews look look at hebrews chapter 7 and then look at verse 16. i i love this this kind of sums this part up and we'll move on who has become a priest not on the basis of legal requirement concerning bodily dissent but by the power of an indestructible life let's talk about jesus here he says god cannot be defeated because he has a life that's indestructible it can't be defeated so he's saying look when the when the when you remember steve ferrara talks about this a lot and he's so right we have to understand that human beings can elevate ourselves to to high places but only he is the most high there's high then there's the most high you know and i was reading a a book just recently and the guy makes a really good point and he says do you remember when the term used to be said about men what was one of the greatest compliments you could ever be paid by the way listen you don't hear it anymore a god-fearing man when's the last time you heard somebody be described as tell me about this guy he's a god-fearing guy that used to be what what people hoped would be said about them and nowadays i don't think people say that because i don't like the way that sounds so i want to walk around being god-fearing yeah that'd be great i mean because i know that when i began to fear god and being awe of god that's when i came under conviction and that's when i sought redemption because i understood just like job did through his suffering i thought i was in pretty good shape but now that i know you this well i despise myself uh paul talking about you know all this you've been breaking me down i've now been ushered into your presence and wow yeah what does it say about the early church of acts when one of the characteristics of the early church of acts was they were constantly in all awe of god and i'll tell you i think we've lost that not everywhere but in a lot of places when's the last time anybody that you heard refer to somebody as a god-fearing man that's left our culture it needs to come back we need god-fearing man all right so the next thing number two so his life doesn't change that's number one number two god's character does not change it doesn't change he doesn't have a bad day you know god just wasn't himself today he uh you heard what he said to so-and-so i tell you that's not the god we know no he doesn't he doesn't change like we do it can be any kind of shock it can be anything that would normally alter the character of a person but there is nothing that can alter the character of god and course of a human life look our taste on things that we like our outlook on stuff our temper uh may change radically uh you know sometimes people turn bitter sometimes people you know grow cynical i've certainly grown a little cynical callous is this is this book about my problems anyway but but nothing of this happens to our creator it's our problem but it ain't his problem he never becomes what less truthful here's what i like to he never becomes less merciful it doesn't go i know y'all thought i'd be merciful today but i'm really not going to be i've had to change i've evolved i don't know you ever thought about that everybody will think always thinks god should evolve to something they like better what if he started evolving to something worse like i don't think i'll be merciful anymore wait a minute i thought we could be saved no i changed my mind on that no mercy i'm out james i know i used to be merciful i'm just not anymore so his mercy never changes praise the lord for that his truth never changes he's uh he's he's as good and wonderful today as the psalmist says taste of the lord and you will see that he is good well how about this that that experience with god today is exactly as good as it was the first time anybody ever encountered does that fire anybody up the character of god today and always will be exactly what it was about what you read in the bible he didn't change he's that same god right here today now let's look about this so in exodus 3 this is in verse 14 if you want to underline that we read how god announced his name to moses and i mentioned this a minute ago i am who i am uh a phrase of which yahweh jehovah the lord is in effect a it's a shortened form in verse 15 the name the main then i like they get this the name is not a description of god but simply a declaration of his self-existence and his eternal changelessness it's a reminder to mankind that he has life in himself he produces life and that that what he is now he is eternally forever okay so when he says i am who i am that never ends his character never changes uh uh our brother james and a passage that deals with god's goodness and holiness and his generosity to men and his hostility to sin speaks of god as this and this is james 1 17 with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change so write that one down james james 1 17 he's talking about all the things about god you know what he says there is no variation on this there's no shadow due to change no one ever says you know what i went to see god this week and he's just i don't know man he's changing let me tell you this god is the only the only person in existence the only force in existence that we are okay with saying you know i found god to be merciful and somebody says you know that's just the way he is i found him to be truthful that's just the way he is i found him to be holy you know that's just the way he is see we start using that as an excuse for us when we do bad things i know that i can't from time to time i say i'm gonna do something i don't do it but i mean that's just the way i am but see what god says no let's stop you being the way you are and let me turn you into the way i am right why do we use that as an excuse god's the only one that could say it it'd be a good thing you know that's just the way i am good but when i say that's just the way i am usually not good hey look look i'm sorry i lost my cool today but you know every time i get in these situations i lose my cool and you know that's just the way i am we have we don't want you to be that way and god says so don't be that way let me change you into the way i am so you know and i've never understood that excuse anyway especially when someone says you don't like somebody i don't like him he's arrogant that's just the way he is yeah i know that's why i don't like him i don't want him to be that way so so so that's that's what that's what god says i'm the only one that can say that's just the way i am and it'd be a good thing but we can rest on that is he merciful yes you think there's a time he will never be merciful no you go back to him and you repent you have a sincere heart you say lord i realize i keep messing this up forgive me you know what he says i'm merciful i'm slow to anger doesn't mean he doesn't anger but he's slow to i'm patient i'm holy i'm loving i'm merciful i'm just and we'll talk more about this as we move forward the study so all right two things then so we know number one god's life doesn't change number two god's character doesn't change number three god's truth does not change now this one the world doesn't like this one what's true concerning god does not change okay sometimes people say things they do not really mean simply because they either don't understand their own mind or because maybe their view changes they frequently find that they can no longer stand behind things that they said in the past i've had things that i used to believe in the past i don't believe anymore i've had things that i used to really care about in the past i don't care about anymore i have things that were true about me at one time that are not true about me now thank the lord uh but when it comes to god he's not unstable like we are he would never say i was once this way now i'm this way he never has to say that because his truth doesn't change they stand forever he as abidingly valid expressions of his mind and thought no circumstances prompt him to recall anything about himself no changes in his own thinking require him to amend them god didn't have to amend anything he gets it right and if you ever want to know tony tony evans said this and i heard somebody else say it just yesterday if you ever want to know the clearest truth about god and how god sees something the clearest look in scripture when he addresses it for the first time that's why marriage is so easy a friend of ours i mean friend of mine told me it was such an epiphany one day stop trying to defend god's standard of marriage so deep in the bible go back to when he first established it in genesis chapter 2 it's so clear when he establishes it in genesis chapter 2 and then it never changes throughout the inerrant word of god it never changed you can't find anywhere where he comes off that standard and he makes it so clear because he says in genesis 2 everything has been created including a male and i find nothing that's already been created at this point nothing that is the perfect helper the perfect partner for man a male i've already created a male i've already created animals plants all this stuff none of this will do so i will now go on record i god who never gets it wrong i will go on record my truth stands today and i will now create for man the perfect helper my approved partner and he made woman and he never changed that standard never changes isaiah writes all flesh is grass and grass withers but the word of our god will stand forever he's not like grass you see he's not like flowers this if you ever want to see a fallen creation go look at the beauty of a flower how quick you come back and you're like wow it's ugly now i didn't it that we have flowers that only stay beautiful for just a short period of time now in that moment it's like god's saying i i create beautiful things and then also you come back and it's turned brown but this has fallen you go out into the to a wooded area you're like oh this is great and then a briar cuts you you know you go out to this place and go what how beautiful and then all of a sudden mosquitoes start by and you're like oh so he's showing me a glimpse but he's also reminding me this is not gonna stand so he's not like that he's not like grass that withers the word of our god will stand forever that's isaiah 40 verses 6 through 8 if you want to write that down isaiah 40 6-8 the psalmist says your word o lord is eternal and it stands firm in the heavens all of your commands are true there's that word all again what do we say some of them are true the ones i like have you ever noticed look i'm i'm the king of sinners okay have you ever noticed isn't it so much more fun to talk about sins you don't struggle with i mean i enjoy that well i'll tell you that something's got to be done about that god's not going to let that stand and then somebody brings up one that god doesn't like that you do all the time you're like i'd rather not talk about that that that's what he's saying all of his commands don't change not just some of them all of them don't change there's nothing he said that was true that is now not true everybody got that so it all your commands are true you establish them to last for ever psalms 119 if you want to find what i just said look at verse 89 and then skip all the way to verse 151 uh in 152. psalms 119 is a very long psalm so 89 and then 151 and 152. the word translated true here and the last verse carries with the idea of stability it it's a firm foundation your commandments they're not shaky they're not they're not like well they may not hey this may not hold when you see god's commandments they're all true they're all stable they're all firm they make all the sense in the world they're completely right and to be against them is you being wrong not him being wrong that's what that's what it means when we read our bibles we need to remember that god still stands behind all the promises and demands we like the promises and there's nothing wrong with that in my times of despair my friends will say to me and i'll say to them my wife will say to me and i'll say to her my children will say to me and i'll say to them remember god's promises they didn't they didn't get turned off but you know what i also have to remember god's demands those we don't get we don't get we don't stand we don't get as loud about those we like his promises his demands we're not that crazy about but they stand and statements of purpose what matters and what doesn't stands words of warning they stand i i think about jeremiah thinks in chapter 20 when when when god's really upset uh with everybody he's really upset and jeremiah never has good news and everybody hates him and he goes in and he says hey man he's bringing he's bringing the chaldeans the babylonians are coming down on us and god has told me that he's doing it he is bringing them against us these evil people are coming against us because of our sin and rebellion against god and he's telling us to get out of this city because they're going to come in this city and they're going to kill everybody in here or take you prisoner if you'll go ahead and go out and surrender to them we'll be prisoners but we'll be alive if you stay in here anybody doesn't come out and surrender to them they're going to kill everybody that's in here they're going to burn this place to the ground and that was god's warning if if you'll come out and go ahead and submit to this punishment that i have to you then you'll live now you're gonna be refined by it i'm gonna put you in prison you're gonna be prisoners you're gonna be slaves and i'm gonna refine you but you won't be dead anybody and i say this about sin i use this as analogy of sin anybody who stays in this world of unrepented sin and says i won't come out and be your bond servant i won't come out and i won't be redeemed i will not come and submit to your authority you know what you're saying so i'm going to stay in my sin and die with it because you know what god says you know my warnings stand too if you're unredeemed you're going to die i can't change who i am it's a warning but then there's a promise too you know if you don't like the warning then love the promise but these things do stand they are addressed to new testament believers in the old testament they're not relics of a bygone age but an eternally valid revelation of the mind of god toward his people in all generations so long as the world lasts as our lord himself told us in john 10 35 write that down john 10 35 the scripture cannot be broken nothing can annul god's eternal truth so his truth never changes so let's go through it again god's life does not change god's character does not change god's truth does not change what's next god's ways do not change god's ways do not change he continues to act towards sinful men and women and the way that he does in the bible story story he still shows his freedom and lordship by discriminating between sinners causing some to hear the gospel while others sometimes don't so the standard of repentance it doesn't change it's equally afforded to all people and some people reject this some people receive this but the result of your rejection of salvation and the rejection of him will result to the same to everyone who rejects and those of us that repent and submit to his lordship he also is consistent in saying i accept that the sincerity of your heart the sincerity of your repentance i will forgive it my ways don't change you know what that means there's not some new way to be redeemed you know what is he set up in the old testament he shows all the things that have to be done to atone for sin that sets us up to see all the things that have to be done in the new testament to atone for sin here's the good news i've been pointing to the perfect lamb now we have one lamb we have one sacrifice and so my ways haven't changed what i've done now is fulfilled it completely in the new testament i fulfilled a complete sacrifice for the sin because of the repentance that's required i've now fulfilled it completely and in myself when i took on human flesh and the second person of the trinity to the son and you know what the way that i required redemption has not changed throughout times nor has it changed today his ways don't change and and so if you reject this one way then it will be to your death and if you repent and you submit to the authority of christ you'll be redeemed he aims his his aims and his principles of action remain consistent he does not at any time act out of character our ways we know are pathetically i mean just pathetically inconsistent to to to us but not to god god's ways are never inconsistent so hey see this is where you got to watch out for universalism oh god's not he didn't require that anymore his ways have changed everybody's going to heaven well i'm reading the scriptures and i don't think the scriptures say that yeah but he's changed his mind on that his ways have changed he it's almost like you know how we laugh a lot of times now this is what we do acting like that god's like us i've seen this in my father i tell this hilarious story that my father that was to be feared and and didn't tell and if you played for my dad and all these funny stories we've told and i remember and look he's not the first person we talk about this all the time it's how sometimes you look at your parents if you end up giving them grandchildren and they're unrecognizable who is this person i used to make the joke are you now old people trying to get into heaven why are you treating my children the way you're treating them versus how you treated me see they're inconsistent in their ways running in the house at one time was bad now with these kids it's okay well see that's not god god doesn't do that where he says you know as i've gotten a little older and times past i just you know what this requirement of repentance and i don't know that's that's when i was younger more harsh uh i'm not as holy as i was then i've gotten a little older so i tell you what i what's the harm in just letting them all come in now that's being preached out there right now but it's not it's not biblical nor is it true about god now the adversary who wants us to have a different view of god that he loves that kind of stuff but it is not biblical so we know that god's life doesn't change god's character doesn't change god's truth doesn't change god's ways do not change the next one is that god's purposes do not change and what do you mean by that listen to what samuel said about him he who is the glory of israel does not lie or change his mind declare samuel for he is not a man that he should change his mind this is in first samuel 15 29. uh balaam said this about the same thing god is not a man that he should lie nor nor a son of man that he should change his mind does he speak and then not act does he promise and not fulfill this is coming from numbers 23 19. so repenting means revising one's judgment and changing one's plan of action god never does this he never needs to for his plans are made on the basis of a complete knowledge and control which extends to all things past present and future so there can be no sudden emergencies or unexpected developments to take him by surprise man we talk about this a lot don't we guys we talk about this so much about the purposes of god they do not change one of the things that we say consistently in the inner circle of the people that i interact with spiritually anytime there's some sort of calamity every single time we say this because it's true you think god was caught up caught by surprise on this oh gosh i don't know what happened over there i don't really have any purpose for that what happened you know i i used to do this all the time you know did an angel run into the throne room and say you're not going to believe what's going on with burgess and god's like was i not paying attention i have no purpose for this i didn't i don't know what i'm going to do about this there's just no purpose to what he's going through no that never happens he's never caught off guard i didn't see that coming i thought he was going to get up today at uh at 4 30. he's up at 3am i don't know what to do what is he doing up i i don't have any purpose for this well he he woke up he thinks you got something to say to him i'm totally taking my guard off guard on this i don't know what he's doing i have no idea i have no purpose for this maybe he shouldn't have drank that second cup of coffee no that's not god god's not up to everything that's going on he has a purpose for and and his purposes do not change he's not caught off guard there's nothing that takes god by surprise and we say that all time this did surprise god so you just got diagnosed with cancer that didn't surprise god i know it i know it's scary and i'm not saying it's okay or you shouldn't care because he cares but there is a purpose for it and every time people especially talk about suffering and they'll say sometimes well i just didn't see any purpose in that purpose in that and i'll say as gently as i can well then you missed it because there certainly was purpose for it god wasn't caught off guard by it hey i i i you know my business i i got fired today did somebody run and go did you hear what happened to larry and god what are you talking about is it in larry at work no they just fired him really well i don't know what to do with that i have no purpose for it that that that doesn't happen that never happens so if you can get your mind to understand that god's purposes do not change when you get in these times of difficulty calamity whatever it may be when you get into these moments of uncertainty if you'll just flip your mind and i promise you this works i promise you because of who he is who he is not what i'm saying to you i'm just telling you about him if you'll flip your mind to what are you teaching me what is your purpose in this what are you trying to do with this lord i don't want to miss it and if you'll have that mindset a weird calm comes over you it doesn't mean it's not hard that means it's not difficult but there's almost this calm that comes over you because you go so god knows about this are you trying to say he allows this kind of stuff yes i am because i believe he can stop it anybody want to debate me on that one i can't stop it so if he doesn't stop it then he allows it if he allows it there must be a purpose and we see this throughout scripture what does paul say about the thorn that wouldn't be taken away he didn't say god was taken off guard taken by surprise or was caught off guard by this he says he talked to him about it as if god didn't know hey i have this thorn in my flesh and now i'm being harassed by this demon hey would you take this away from me lord and the lord said no and then paul says and i know why to keep me from being conceited paul was a pretty big deal paul had been taken up into the third heaven he'd seen a vision people been healed by paul paul was starting to pick up a lot of celebrity and god said oh well let me take you down here so you're so dependent on me you get you need to be a little weaker so i'm gonna let this thorn in your flesh keep reminding you about the grace i showed you you remember the stuff you did before i came along oh you're right and then paul gets into first corinthians 15 9-10 and says only things good about me is your grace but it won't be in vain see paul learned the lesson he learned the lesson that he'd been afforded grace and what kept reminding him about that his suffering because god kept him in check there was a purpose for it it wasn't random well paul's going through a lot of stuff down there did he not have enough faith i don't know i i forgot about paul i'm over here concentrating on the other guys what's going on with paul he's in a lot of trouble down here no god knows that he he was in charge of it the whole way he's shipwrecked what no god's like i know i i wrecked the ship watch what he's going to learn through all this my goodness lord he tried to get firewood for everybody now he's been bit by snake i know but watch this i'll put the snake there that's why some of these worship songs you have now about mountains being moved and all this kind of stuff you need somebody in the song to let you know god put the mountain there now he might move it but you need to also realize he put it there right see this be careful making god something you wanted to be you you need to worship who he actually is because he doesn't change so his purposes don't change the plans of the lord stand firm forever the purpose of his heart through all generations write down psalms 33 11. psalms 33 11 the plans of the lord stand firm forever the purposes of his heart through all generations okay so think about this if you look at other scriptures you'll see that there's no change in his eternal purpose i mean it it begins to deal with with each person in a way that is accomplishing something i mean and you see this with people throughout scripture but remember what i said to begin with and the way he dealt with these people in scripture and the way he's working at his purpose he didn't just stop doing that when we came along i know that you see be careful about the bible when you when you think about these men of the bible and that's the second curriculum that we we are doing it will come out in march at the manchurch.com the first one we we've done is the pursuit of christ-centered masculinity so that's perfection the second one we take eight men of the bible and guess what we do with that one here's the things they did right here's the things they did wrong and here's what you got to understand they were just eight men who were made the things they did that were right they were made right by god they glorified god the only thing good about these eight guys is god matter of fact if you look when they stepped away from him they weren't very good at all well that didn't change yeah yeah god is dealing with you just like he dealt with abraham when he said hey i want you to take this son that i promise you i want you to go sacrifice him to me well he wouldn't do that to me yeah he might why would he do that because he's going to test you just like he did abraham well but that's abraham that didn't matter that's just the name the only thing good about abraham was the fact that he had a saving faith because he did whatever god told him to do but he's just a man so so the same god that dealt with abraham's dealing with you and he has purposes for what he's doing he didn't become chaotic in the new millennium so keep that in mind so we know that god's life doesn't change we know that his character doesn't change we know his truth doesn't change his ways don't change his purposes don't change and how about this and we'll end with this god's son doesn't change praise the lord thank you jesus christ is the same yesterday and today and forever says the writer of hebrews in hebrews 13 verse 8. hebrews 13 verse 8 describing christ the same yesterday today and forever why is that important because these characteristics are also of his father and his touch still has its ancient power it still remains true that he is able to save completely those who come to god through him because he always lives to intercede for them or i like to say for us the right of hebrews again that's chapter 7 verse 25 write that down hebrews 7 25. he's able to save completely those who come to god through him because he always lives to intercede for them he never changes the fact is the strong consolation of all god's people rick what do you mean by that i'll tell you what i mean by that you're not going to repent of your sin and turn to jesus and say i confess you as lord and i believe that your father rose you from the dead on the third day and i ask that you forgive me and redeem me and make me fully righteous so i can stand before your father and jesus goes well i don't really do that anymore i kind of lost my power it's been a long time you know i went to the cross over 2000 years ago i appreciate your sentiment it's kind of you to come do all that but i'm just not able to redeem people anymore you ever work you ever think like that you ever think you're unredeemable i have been there that's not true it is not true jesus christ can redeem you today no matter how awful you are or whatever has happened just like he redeemed awful people since we fell in the garden he's been redeeming people for a long time and he hadn't stopped he's unchanging the same redemption that was available to everybody that you read about in these historical documents in the bible that redemption is available to you and the power of jesus to redeem has not wavered one ounce and it's available to you it's available to you it won't be denied to you if you're sincere in your heart and you repent so god's life doesn't change god's character doesn't change god's truth doesn't change god's ways do not change god's purposes do not change and god's son does not change so where is the sense of distance and difference then between believers and bible times and ourselves well it's completely been excluded it's gone and you may say on what grounds on what grounds i would say i'll tell you what grounds that god doesn't so any distance between them and us is gone because it's the same god if our god is the same as the god of the new testament believers then how can we justify ourselves resting content with an experience of communion with him and a level of christian conduct that falls so far below theirs why do we think that we live under a lower standard than them we don't because god has never changed the power he gave them is available to us and the standard he called them to he calls us to because he's never changed if god is the same then this is not an issue that any of us can evade well i mean what he said to them is not what he said to us what we saw happening when the holy spirit was handed out on on these men that were once afraid and wanted nothing to do with god i mean that power is not available to me oh yes it is it is we've said this a lot of years in here if you have not been radically changed by god it's not because of his inability to do it so it's got to be a problem with you and probably me it's no problem with him he hasn't changed so if god hasn't changed you and he hasn't changed me the issue is is you and me it's not on him he's ready to radically change any of us who are willing to be changed i hope that's something that you need to hear today that god has never changed the same god of the bible is standing available to you right now so why don't you access it let's pray lord thank you for this reminder you are really something you always have been you are the beginning you are the end i just last night was presented the visual in revelation chapter 1 of how john said when i realized all the things that you god were and he's sitting there looking at jesus himself and he says i just fell to my i fell to the ground because i was so in all of you and for you to be that incredible but then to walk over to john as you do to us and place your hand on his shoulder and reassure him that you got this that wonderful reminder that that you win and if we're with you then then we're going to be all right no matter what happens this world no matter what happens on this never-ending news cycle that screams no hope no hope no hope but your voice deafens the no hope by saying hope peace redemption mercy it's available and as long as you're with me you've said it lord everything really is gonna be all right because you have never changed and you are reliable you are a firm foundation maybe somebody needs to hear that today lord i don't know who it is i know i i needed to hear it i pray lord that you'll draw them to you that they will repent of their sins and remember that you haven't stopped forgiving people your demands haven't changed but the redemption is available to meet every demand in your son jesus in his name we pray amen if i can help you in any way rick rickbubba.com thanks for being with us

Channel: Rick & Bubba

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Id: EPHimYf4-Xw

Length: 56min 42sec (3402 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 03 2021