The Comfort of God's Promise: Immutability (Hebrews 6:16-18) with Pastor Andrew Courtis

I do invite you to turn with me in your Bibles to Hebrews chapter 6.

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

Our reading is going to be from verses 13 through to 20.

We find ourselves in part two of a three-part miniseries within Hebrews.

This miniseries could be titled Blessed Assurance.

That's the theme of verses 13 to 20.

It's the second installment that we'll be looking at this morning.

And just before we read this text, I'm most mindful every week that as we come together as God's people, so many things go on in the lives of the Lord's saints.

Joyful times mark your week, and difficult times mark your week.

And in any given moment, we have such variants occurring in the life of the people of God.

And that's not just true for us, it's true for God's people in every place.

We mentioned last week that trials do come in different shapes and sizes.

And my heartfelt prayer is that as we consider this passage, that we would be able to draw from this the blessed assurance that is available for all of God's people.

May the Spirit of God minister to you in your particular need today, that our Lord would be exalted and you, his dear child, would be encouraged.

Let us hear the reading of God's word.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself, saying, Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.

And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.

Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become high priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

That is God's holy word.

Please join me in prayer.

Our gracious and loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word that has been read.

Help us to take hold of your promises.

Help us to receive the certainty, the comfort, and the confirmation that is ours to experience because of what you have done.

Minister to each need this day.

I pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

How can you as a Christian experience meaningful, real, blessed assurance in your Christian life?

I want to remind you that blessed assurance is a reality for every Christian.

But we are able to have that blessed assurance underutilized.

We're able to have that blessed assurance weakened in our experience as Christians due to trials, but also our personal negligence.

That's where a lack of assurance will often come from.

And the writer to the Hebrews wants his congregation to experience the blessed assurance that is theirs.

He's a minister that loves his flock.

It's a sermon designed to build them up.

But I ask the question: how can you experience blessed assurance?

Well, the answer is found back in chapter six, and I want you to note the end of verse 12 where it says, But imitate those who through faith and patient and patience inherit the promises.

The way in which we experience blessed assurance is by means of faith in God's promise.

When we take God at His word, when we trust Him, we rely on Him, we lean on His promise.

And the writer is showing us in chapter 6, verses 13 to 20 three realities that we need to know about God's promise and why we ought to trust Him.

Why we ought to not be sluggish and not be lazy, but why we ought to persevere in the Christian life, why we ought to make sacrifices and give up certain things that the world will call us to follow after.

He tells us that the reason why we ought to do all of this is because God has made a promise to Abraham, and we are heirs of that promise.

But what is it about that promise that we need to know and remember?

Well, he told us in chapter 6, verses 13 through to 15 that God's promise, it's been confirmed.

We learnt about the confirmation of God's promise.

God confirmed his promise not only by the reality that it came from him, but also because he attached to his promise an oath.

So we can trust God's promise because God's promise has been confirmed.

But secondly, he wants us to know that there's not only the reality of the confirmation of God's promise, he wants us to experience the comfort that God's promise brings.

And then finally, he wants us to be reminded of the certainty that is ours to experience because of God's promise.

And that's verses 19 to 20.

And you see these words show up in the text.

I want you to note there it in the midst of verse 16, he speaks of confirmation.

God's promise has been confirmed.

At the end, in the middle of verse 18, he speaks of consolation.

God's promises console us, they comfort us.

But then in verse 19, he speaks of hope, and this hope is referring to a confidence, a certainty that is ours to take hold of.

But our focus this morning is verses 16 to 18, and that is the comfort of God's promise.

I want you to know and be reminded this morning that if you are one of the Lord's dear children, he wants you to experience the comfort of his promise.

But what makes the comfort of God's promise something that will actually encourage us, enable us to be strengthened, and to cause us to persevere?

Well, the great comfort is found in two truths that we're going to look at this morning.

And when we grasp these two truths, these two truths will result in a heartfelt comfort that is ours.

Weary Christian, do you need comfort today?

Well, I encourage you, gaze at these two truths.

Let these two truths preach to you.

Be gripped by them.

Embrace them.

Let them cover you like a blanket.

Let them warm your soul.

The two truths are found in this text, and they are we receive the comfort of God's promise, number one, because of God's unchanging purpose.

And secondly, because of his trustworthy character.

God's unchanging purpose and his trustworthy character.

These two truths are given to us to comfort us, to encourage us, to build us up in the Christian life, and remind us why we must cling to God's promise.

I want to remind you of what the promise is in this text.

The illustration is Abraham.

God made Abraham a number of promises.

And we see the first time the Lord appeared to Abraham in Genesis 12, that the Lord promised him that he would receive blessing.

And through his seed the nations would be blessed.

And we were reminded last week that Abram didn't see that in its fullness.

He only had one son of promise, Isaac.

And through Isaac he only saw one grandson of promise, little Jacob.

He didn't see the fullness of this.

But Abraham believed God.

God confirmed this promise to Abraham by making an oath.

And the promise that God made to Abraham is a promise that still stands for us.

But we also learn that there is more to this promise.

The context here is not just talking about the great work in which God is going to fulfill the promise to Abraham, in which the nations will be blessed, but the context here is surrounding this character who was first raised in chapter 5, and it's going to be highly developed in chapter 7, and that is Melchizedek.

Just quickly jump ahead to chapter 7 and verse 21.

And I want you to see here that the Lord not only made an oath to Abraham, but we also see the Lord has also made an oath elsewhere.

And we see it in chapter 7, verse 21, where it says, The Lord has sworn and will not relent.

You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.

Now, what I want you to see here is that the promise that God has made to Abraham, that is, through your seed, Abraham, the nations will be blessed.

That promise is still good.

And we ought to trust God for that promise.

But embedded into this context isn't just that promise, but also that the seed of Abraham, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, has come in the order of Melchizedek.

And the promise of the Lord is that the Lord Jesus Christ will be a priest forever.

He will forever intercede for his people.

He will forever care for his people.

He'll forever represent his people.

And for this reason, we ought not to lose heart.

And the writer wants us to know that this promise of God is still good.

God has not changed.

And this ought to comfort us in our hardest of times.

We need to remember these two truths today.

You need to remember God's unchanging purpose and his trustworthy character.

And there he's reminding us that God had made an oath to Abraham.

He not only promised, but he made an oath, swearing by his own name, appealing to his own name.

God didn't have to do that.

And this confirmation results in a great comfort.

And that comfort is God's unchanging purpose.

Look at verse 17.

Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by oath.

What this verse is showing us is that God wants the heirs of the promise to experience the comfort that is theirs because his promise will not change.

And the reason God's promise will not change and can be trusted in is because of God's unchanging purpose.

Now, before we look at his unchanging purpose, let's look at the people he's addressing here.

They're mentioned in the middle of verse 17, and they're called the heirs of the promise.

Who are the heirs of the promise?

God made a promise to Abraham.

Who are the heirs?

The heirs of the promise are the children of Abraham.

And according to Galatians chapter 3, the children of Abraham are those who are of faith.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

It is those who believe.

Ultimately, in the economy of God, it is all the elect of God.

All the elect of God are the heirs of this promise.

They inherit what God had promised to Abraham.

But we learnt last time that this inheritance only comes through Christ.

So to take hold of this inheritance that God has promised to Abraham will only be experienced if you belong to Christ, if you are his, if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, this glorious promise is yours to experience.

And the blessing that God will bring to the nations is unfolding now and will experience its fullness when our Lord Jesus has completed his reign and brought every enemy under his feet.

We learnt in the Great Commission that the Lord Jesus Christ commissioned his disciples on the basis of his coronation and authority and power to go into all the nations.

And the reason is because he is the seed of Abraham.

And it is through Jesus Christ that this blessing comes to the world.

So this reference to the heirs of the promise is referring to those who believe in Christ, those who find their refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ.

They are the heirs of promise.

You, child of God, are an heir of the promise.

And what you need to know about this promise is that God has determined to show you more abundantly the immutability of his counsel.

Can you see the force of that language?

God has determined to show.

Just look at those words to begin with.

God is determined.

That word determined in verse 17 means that God wills this.

He chooses to do this.

This is his desire.

God desires, chooses, determines, wills to show more abundantly, to show in a clearer way, a bigger way, a stronger way, his immutable purpose.

What is God's immutable purpose or the immutability of his counsel?

Well, that word immutability just simply means that God does not change.

And the counsel is referring to God's wise, thoughtful, eternal deliberation of how he would bring blessing to the world through the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what his counsel is referring to.

The word counsel belongs to another word that we often use in relation to God, and that is God's decree.

God's sovereign decree is that which he has thoughtfully, wisely determined before the foundation of the world.

God's decree is not influenced by anything outside of himself.

God doesn't look through history and then react to what happens and what doesn't happen.

But rather, God determines the end from the beginning, according to Isaiah 46.

And the counsel of the Lord, in the words of Psalm 33 and verse 11, stands forever.

God's counsel, God's determination, his decision, his decree will not change.

It is unchanging.

It doesn't have to be adjusted, it doesn't have to be revised because of circumstances.

God's sovereign purpose, his counsel is eternal and it's immutable.

Now let's think a little bit more about his counsel for a moment.

When we talk about the counsel of the Lord, we learn that in Ephesians 1 and verse 11, that God works all things according to the counsel of his will.

Ephesians 1 11 there is referring to the fact that there is not one thing in this universe that God is not governing, and working, that reference to God works all things, is referring to his providence.

The providence of God is God's governing hand that oversees, orchestrates, and guides every person, every place, and every particular, so that it conforms to what his counsel determined.

So we begin with the decree of God, in which God determines all things, and then we move to the hand of God in his providence, in which he guides all things in creation to fulfill precisely what his decree had determined before the foundation of the world.

God works all things according to the counsel of his will.

There is not one thing in this universe.

As R.

C.

Sprawl wisely and memorably said, there is not one maverick molecule in this universe that is not governed by God's hand.

Everything is held.

In order.

But here in Hebrews chapter 6, the reference to counsel certainly refers to that, but it's specifically focusing on an aspect of his wise counsel.

Hebrews 6 · chapter mention

And what's being referenced here in his counsel is his thoughtful, wise deliberation that God before the foundation of the world had determined a way in which the nations would experience blessing.

And the way in which they would experience blessing was through a covenant promise made to Abraham that would be prophesied and pictured throughout the centuries, expanded with greater clarity in other covenants, but experienced in its fulfillment through the seed of Abraham, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the Lord Jesus Christ is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

He is alive, he reigns, and he ever lives to intercede for his children.

And we ought to trust him more than anyone or anything else in the world.

That's specifically the counsel that he's referring to here.

That's the context.

And what he's saying is that plan of God, that plan of God to bring blessing to the nations through the Lord Jesus Christ, the King, the priest whoever lives, the one who reigns, the one who represents, this purpose of God, it's unalterable.

It cannot be changed.

And think about how encouraging this is for that congregation who are experiencing persecution.

They're experiencing temptation.

There is a pull to go back to their old religion.

Think about it for you for just one moment.

Often you'll be discouraged and tempted to despair.

A trial might be breaking into your life now that is just too much.

And so much might be happening in your life.

It weighs you down, it gets you discouraged.

The waters are rising up.

You're gasping for air.

You feel alone, you're struggling.

And the writer says to his audience, and through the Spirit of God says to you today, Remember, dear Christian, God's purpose will not change.

He has a purpose.

He has in the most wise way unfolded this purpose, and it cannot change.

His counsel is immutable, and he says, God determines to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise that he will not change his purpose.

God determines to show you more abundantly than he showed Abraham, that his counsel will not change.

We ought to take refuge in that reality.

That there is such a thing as the divine counsel, that there is a sovereign purpose, and this sovereign counsel, this immutable counsel of God, is the foundation for all of our life.

It reminds us to begin with that all that we have in the Christian life is of grace.

We cannot earn it, we do not deserve it, we cannot enhance it.

It is all of Him.

And God, in His graciousness, His love, His condescension, determines to make known to you more abundantly that His sovereign purpose will not change.

This is an incredible reality.

This is a very loose paraphrase, but I was reminded of something that I had read by Thomas Watson during the week.

Thomas Watson, remember, is that great English Puritan.

It's not Phil Watson's dad.

He was in the 1600s.

But Thomas Watson, he is our favorite Puritan, isn't he, Phil?

He's such a clear writer, a compelling writer.

But Thomas Watson said that a believer may lose their estate.

They may lose their favorable circumstances in life.

They may even lose those who are close to them.

But one thing the child of God will never lose, and that is the counsel of God that is unalterable.

God does not change.

And this ought to compel us to trust.

It ought to compel us to rely on him, to continue to look on him.

Things will not always be stacked in our perceived favor.

Things may not always go the way we would like them to go.

But God has a sovereign counsel, a sovereign purpose, and this sovereign purpose is immutable, and he has confirmed it by an oath.

He confirmed it by an oath when he spoke to Abraham, where he declared, as we see it quoted in verse 14, surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.

God swore by his name.

And we saw it again in chapter 7, verse 21 the Lord has sworn and will not relent.

You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator of a better covenant.

And God has made these promises, that he has confirmed these promises by means of his oath.

His plan has not altered, it will not alter, and we can trust him.

So the first comforting truth that the writer wants his congregation to know is that God's purpose, it's immutable.

It doesn't change.

God's unchanging purpose, his unchanging counsel, it stands and we can rely on it.

How important it is for us to be reminded of that as we live in a world of so much change around us.

Political agendas will change, legislation will change, people change, ideas change.

We make promises, but we need to renege on them.

We need to revise them, we need to update them.

Sometimes this is done because of dishonesty, and sometimes it's done because of our frailty and limitations, because circumstances change.

We live in a world of change.

Change is constantly before us.

Circumstances change, people change, the world is changing.

But what doesn't change?

The one constant reality in this universe is that there is a council that stands.

There is a purpose that is enduring.

Oh, there is so much more to say about this eternal decree, this eternal counsel of God.

But let me remind you that it is not only eternal, it is entire.

And it is something that we ought to find deep comfort and refuge in.

But the text goes on to give us a second comforting truth.

Not only should we remember that when it comes to God's promise, that God's promise comforts us because God's promise is based on his unchanging counsel.

But secondly, we need to also learn that God's promise is based on his trustworthy character.

And that's what we see in verse 18.

The writer goes on to say that by two immutable things, what are the two immutable things?

God's promise is immutable, and God's oath is immutable.

God's made a promise, He's given it, He's given an oath, and neither of these are going to change.

That by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation.

What the writer is saying there is, you can have strong comfort, you can have great encouragement, you can persevere and keep on going, despite how weighty things are around you, because of God's trustworthy character.

What is it about God's character that makes him trustworthy?

There is so much to say, but this text tells us specifically that it is impossible for God to lie.

This is stunning.

Not only has God made a determination, a thoughtful, wise decision as to what would happen in this world, and issued a promise, and this promise is unalterable, but this comes from the character of the one who cannot lie.

Often, children, when they're learning theology, particularly when you first start teaching a child a catechism, a children's catechism, perhaps one of the more accessible ones.

We we do need to recover the Great Baptist Catechism and the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

But we do have some more accessible ones today.

And in these more accessible ones, you begin with questions like, Who made you in all things?

And I remember my children when they were little would look up with big eyes and say, God made me in all things.

And then you continue to proceed through the questions.

And as you proceed through the questions, the catechism's designed to show them how big God is and how much they need God.

But one of the curious questions that inevitably comes up for a child is there, is there anything that God cannot do?

We even have children's songs that tell us that there's nothing that our God cannot do.

But that's not actually true.

God cannot go against his character.

And here we learn in this text that one of the things that God cannot do is he cannot lie.

He cannot lie, he cannot deny himself.

He is not a man that he should lie, according to Numbers 23, 19.

And this text tells us here that God cannot lie, it is impossible for him to lie.

Why?

Because in his being, he's immutable.

He doesn't change.

Oh, we change.

We change because we need to change in some ways because we're a mess.

But then sometimes we change for the worse.

We change, we constantly change, we we need to change, and our change, our mutability is a reflection of our weakness and our fallenness.

But God can't change.

He's immutable.

God is who he is, and he eternally is who he is.

He doesn't grow, he doesn't enhance, he doesn't adjust.

God is God, and all that is in God is God.

God is immutable.

And this doctrine of the immutability of God, that God does not change, is the doctrine that actually leads us to the beautiful concept of God's eternal decree and providence.

We have no business understanding providence or his decree without understanding the wisdom of his immutability.

What I mean by that is when we say that God is unchanging, what this means is that God, who does not change and only acts in accordance to his character, wisely carries out all that he is, all that he determines.

And what he determines is so wise and is in accordance with his nature and character, it cannot ever be altered.

It's impossible for him to lie.

When God says something, he'll do it.

Now that doesn't always mean we'll understand the times and the ways in which his promise will unfold.

When God first made that promise to Abraham, through you, Abraham, the nations would be blessed.

I don't think Abraham initially thought it would have meant such a long wait.

And remember the temptation of Adam, and he did fail, Abraham, and he did fail multiple times.

And that is, he tried to help God out.

He was waiting, and then he tried to do it his way.

And the moment he did that, he he really messed up, and and great consequences broke into his life.

And you know what that's like, don't you?

We try to help the Lord out, we try to do it our way, we think if we adjust it this way, it will work out for our good, but we end up facing so many consequences.

Well, the writer is saying to his congregation, you need to remember that this promise that God made to Abraham, this promise that God has determined to show you more abundantly as his heirs, not only is something you can count on and be comforted by because of his unchanging counsel, but you can count on it because of his trustworthy character.

God will not change his mind.

He will not renege, he will not say, oops, actually, he will not adjust his plan, he will unfold it as he determined, and he will do it in his infinite wisdom, and he will do it in such a way that he wants you as his children to experience abundantly the comfort that is yours to have.

You see, this blessed assurance is there for the taking.

It's a reality for every single Christian, but that assurance is often weakened, as I said.

It's weakened because of trials when we then take our eyes off the Lord and then we neglect the means of grace.

We neglect trusting the Lord.

And as time goes by, through our negligence, we are removing ourselves from the comfort that is actually ours.

I think you know that in your own experience.

I know that in mine.

And the writer is pleading with this congregation.

Consider, he says, the unchanging counsel of God.

Consider the trustworthy character of God.

It's immutable, it will not change.

You can rely on it.

And again, look at the force of the words.

It's impossible for God to lie.

He will not turn on you.

What's the purpose?

It's that we might have strong consolation.

And who are the we here?

Well, we know it's the heirs of Abraham, but here he gives a picturesque description of them.

He says at the end of verse 18, It's those who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.

The image here is somebody who's in flight and they need to find safety.

And the safety that these individuals found was Christ.

They came to him, they believed in him, they trusted in him, they find in him security and safety.

And as they've found refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ, in him has been laid up for them a hope that actually gives them certainty.

I can't touch on that hope because that's what we're going to look at next week.

But he's anticipating a glorious future, a confident assurance that is ours for the taking now, and it will continue to strengthen us in our life.

But what he's saying here is those who have found refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ have truly found themselves in the place where there is safety, there is security, and we are able to remember that the one in which we've found refuge is the one that God is fulfilling his promise through.

You are finding safety in the right one.

Don't go anywhere else, he's saying.

Don't look anywhere else.

I would be negligent this morning as a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ if I didn't warn people here today who right now in their life are compromising.

People here who you may have a lovely personality, you may be a sweet person, you may be a very pleasant individual to be around.

But have you drifted away from the Lord?

Are you living a double life?

Are you being a hypocrite?

Are you being tempted by things that aren't pleasing to the Lord?

Are you going in a direction, oh friend, I say this out of love for you, I say this out of affection for you.

Find refuge in Jesus because only Him, in Him is safety.

Outside of Him is no safety at all.

You will be exposed to the wrath of God, you will come under the fullness of God's judgment.

And I remind you, find safety in Jesus because in him is the fulfillment of the promise that was made by God, a promise that's been confirmed by an oath, a promise that flows from the divine counsel before the foundation of the world, a counsel and a decision that has been determined, will happen, is unfolding, and the great purpose of the blessing to the nations is unfolding before us.

Find refuge in Jesus, run to Him.

Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and find safety in him.

This text is designed to give the people of God comfort.

Comfort in his promises.

And this is what we need to cling to more than anything else in this world.

Are you drifting?

Are you wandering?

Are you beginning to live your way and not God's way?

Are you not ready to receive the meaty things that we're going to consider in chapter 7 as we learn about the glorious priestly ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Well, this passage reminds us that God's promises, when received by faith, result in blessed assurance.

And that blessed assurance is ours because God has confirmed his promises.

God gives us comfort from his promises, and as we will learn next time, he gives us certainty because of his promises.

We live in a world where we need comfort.

But we also live in a world where we need certainty.

And we're going to learn about that certainty next time.

But for now, may we now and ever confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and in him is safety.

Are you going to renew your love for him, renew your relationship with him by enjoying the refuge that you have in Christ?

As you remind yourself of the beautiful refuge that you have in the Lord Jesus Christ, consider again that God has made a promise and he is determined to show you more abundantly that this promise has been confirmed.

And you can count on it because this promise flows from his unchanging counsel and his trustworthy character.

That is the one sure reality that you can have in this world.

And that certainly should give you comfort.

Let's pray.

Our Heavenly Father, I thank you for the reminder of your eternal counsel and your trustworthy character.

Help us to think more carefully upon who you are and what you've done.

Forgive us for when we don't trust you, for when we take things in our own hands, when we try to fix situations, when we do not allow your governing hand to unfold things.

Forgive us for when we are so foolish.

Help us instead to believe, to trust, and to serve, and help us to experience the comfort that is actually ours when we make use of these means.

Thank you for being so kind in desiring to comfort your children, to give us warmth, to give us joy, and even a blessed happiness.

Help us to experience these things not by a fake optimism, but by a real optimism that comes through faith and trust in your enduring will.

We thank you, we praise you in Jesus' name.

Amen.