Things That Never Get Old
Notes
Transcript
Happy New Year! Today is, of course, January 1st, the first day of the new year. Perhaps you were celebrating with family and friends last night, or perhaps you are planning celebrations for later today.
Celebrating the new year is a worldwide tradition, and it’s not hard to see why. There’s a lot of excitement in it! We remember our favorite times and seasons of the year, and we look forward to experiencing those again. We remember the difficulties and adversities of the past year, and we hope for better times in the new year. We also think of the “blank canvas” that the future, the new year, is, and we imagine the possibilities for good results that our hard work and good intentions may bring.
New Year’s resolutions are a widespread practice. Typically, these resolutions indicate not just a desire for improvement, but also a desire to move on from the past. This is often what we mean by the phrase, “turning over a new leaf.”
I am fascinated at how many examples of renewal and cycles we find in the created world. Each day is a cycle, as the sun rises and sets. Our weekly calendar cycles every seven days. Each year is a cycle, with all four seasons repeating in their turn. The tidal cycle, the hydrologic cycle, and even the movements of stars and planets, are all examples of recurring cycles. I’m thankful that God built cycles into the progression of time!
The cycle of a new year begins today, and it is exciting because that’s how new things typically are. We’ve just finished the Christmas season, and perhaps you received some gifts that excite you because they are new. But we cannot acknowledge the excitement of new things, without also acknowledging that, inevitably, new things become old. New cars are exciting, but they are necessary because they also become old and wear out and need to be replaced! New habits and new friends are also exciting, but the sad truth is that we obtain them because we don’t always retain old friends, and old habits can stop being effective. “New and better” automatically assumes the existence of “old and worn out.”
Have you ever acquired that one thing you had always dreamed about? Maybe it was that dream job, or your dream house, or a car, or a vacation or some other form of leisure. Maybe it was marrying that person you loved. Did you notice that after a while, the excitement you felt at the beginning, when that thing was new, had worn off? Perhaps the job became boring, or the house became too expensive. Perhaps your car broke down. Tragically, many marriages end in divorce. What was once new and exciting for those couples becomes old and miserable!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could acquire things that don’t wear out, and that don’t become boring or negative in some way? Wouldn’t it be great if things remained new and exciting?
Many people believe that satisfaction is just around the corner, and even though they’ve received many things that they thought would satisfy them, the fact that those new things became old and unsatisfying doesn’t keep people from seeking the NEXT thing. They believe they’ll finally be satisfied. They seem to believe that the next new thing won’t become old.
If we’re going to escape this cycle of disappointment with the old, excitement with the new, and then disappointment when the new becomes old, we need to realize that nothing on this earth will remain new for long. Everything becomes old and worn out and unsatisfying.
But here’s the good news: there are some good things that everyone may enjoy, that do NOT become old. These things remain new, and they remain exciting! In fact, these things become more exciting as time goes on! Nowhere else can you find things like these…things that never get old.
And that’s what I’d like to talk to you about this morning: things that never get old. Stay tuned!
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Good morning, and welcome to Truth for Today, a weekly radio ministry of Bible Baptist Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. My name is Ethan Custer, and I serve as the assistant under Pastor Mike Custer, the regular host of this broadcast. We at Bible Baptist Church desire to be a spiritual help to you in any way that we can. Our church building is located at 6367 Gateway Drive, on the west edge of Grand Forks. We meet several times each week to worship God, and our highest desire in life is to obey and please the Lord Jesus Christ in all that we do. Our source of truth and guide for living is the Authorized King James Bible, the Word of God in the English language. In the Scriptures, God offers solutions for every one of life’s problems! If we can help you in any way, please let us know. We would appreciate that opportunity. I’ll be giving our contact information at the end of the broadcast, so I hope you’ll stick with me.
Earlier, I mentioned that the things of this earth—temporal things—always eventually stop being new and exciting, and become old, and usually boring, worn out, and discarded. Nothing in this world lasts forever. We see this very poignantly demonstrated in a human life. At birth, the infant is full of promise and potential. The family is excited to celebrate the young one’s arrival. Fast forward to an elderly person nearing their death. Their body is worn out, and perhaps their family is gone. This can be a discouraging time of life! It is quite a change from how the person’s life began.
Even though temporal things don’t remain new and exciting, God has many spiritual and eternal things to offer us that do NOT get old! Today, we’re going to consider some of these things.
First of all, I want us to consider God’s mercies to us. In the book of Lamentations chapter three, the prophet Jeremiah, in referring to Israel’s sin and God’s judgment, said these words:
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
Israel had been unfaithful to God. They had forsaken Him as their God, in spite of all He had done for the nation. They had worshiped false gods, and had done many wicked things. God had repeatedly called them to repent through His prophets, and by and large, Israel had refused to listen. Finally, God sent judgment, as He warned and promised He would do. Jeremiah is writing the book of Lamentations as he looks on the desolation that God’s judgment has brought. He is lamenting the terrible effects of it, as well as the wickedness that made it all necessary. But in the midst of the destruction and pain, Jeremiah understands that Israel still enjoyed God’s blessings. Because of her sin, Israel deserved to be utterly destroyed! But God had still withheld total annihilation. In fact, Israelites were still enjoying life, provision, and so many other things that are blessings of earthly life. And so it is for you and me today.
Friend, the Bible teaches that we are all sinners. Romans 3 tells us this:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Whether we see the full depravity of our sin or not, the fact remains that we have broken God’s law and offended His holy character with our actions. Scripture makes it clear that our deeds, our words, and our thoughts may all break God’s laws, and sinners do this every single day. God would be justified to destroy us all in a moment! Our sin is filthy and perverse; we deserve judgment. But thankfully, God is a God of mercy and longsuffering. He desires that we be right with Him. He calls us to come to Him in faith and repentance. And to give us time and opportunity to do so, He extends to us daily mercies. I’ll read Jeremiah’s words again:
It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.
The fact that you and I are here today, whole and probably healthy, is evidence that God is a merciful and compassionate God! God created us and gave us life. He didn’t have to do that, but He did because He is loving and good. He knew that we would sin, and He still gave us life. And every day that we have the opportunity to breathe air and go about our lives is a merciful gift from God.
I mentioned earlier how the cycle of days is a good thing. I’m glad that we can go to bed at night at the end of a difficult day, and wake up to start anew in the morning. Even a single day, in just 24 hours, can go from being new and exciting to old and burdensome! But God’s mercies do not wear out or become a burden. His compassion is constant and unfailing, and so His mercies are always available, always fresh! Every morning when we wake up, we may count our blessings, and thank Almighty God for His gracious gifts to undeserving sinners. He is a faithful God!
I don’t know if 2022 was a good year for you or not. I don’t know if it held pain and heartache for you or happiness and prosperity. However, I do know that it was a year of enjoying God’s mercies and undeserved blessings. You were given the gift of life and given an eternal soul. You were given the blessings of having food and shelter necessary for survival. You were given the blessing of living in a free nation, unlike some nations in the world today. I’m sure if you took the time, you would think of many other blessings as well.
None of us are able to hold onto these blessings. We cannot keep our nation free, or keep our business from going bankrupt, or keep our car running, or our heart beating or our lungs working. Disasters can happen at any moment, and the only reason we have these blessings is because of God’s mercy, which is new every morning. God is good; He never changes. All the good things in Him are perfect, and do not get old or wear out! They are things that never get old. Praise and thank God for His mercies and faithfulness! The psalmist says it well:
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness,
And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
There’s another thing I would like us to consider, that also does not get old. The Bible calls this, “the new man.”
In Ephesians chapter 2, the apostle Paul writes about salvation in Jesus Christ.
Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
When Jesus Christ came as a baby, grew up, and died on the cross as the Saviour, He did something that hadn’t been done before. He did something new. He made a way for sinners to be reconciled to God. Normally, this would be impossible, because of God’s holiness and our sin! But when the sinless Saviour took man’s sin on Himself, He made it possible for sinners to take His righteousness on them. Sinners, by the power of God, may be made just as righteous as God is! This is how we may be allowed into God’s perfect Heaven. And when this happens in a sinner’s life, he is made “a new man.”
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Have you ever been made a new creature? I’m not talking about “turning over a new leaf,” having religious New Year’s resolutions, or undergoing a personal “rehabilitation.” I’m talking about being made a new creature by the power of God!
Many people have tried renewing their spirituality, or changing religions, or adding God to their life in some way. But while these superficial efforts may have some effect, the heart is left unchanged. The individual is the same person; they are just trying a new thing. But when a sinner repents of their sin, and turns to Jesus Christ in faith, trusting His shed blood alone to wash away their sin, and the Holy Spirit comes to live in their heart, they are a new creature! They aren’t superficially changed. They are changed from the inside out! And because this change is from God, it doesn’t get old and worn out.
The Bible refers to the “old man” as what we are before salvation. We enjoy God’s daily mercies and faithfulness in temporal things, but we do not have fellowship with Him. We do not know the joy of His closeness and Fatherly love. We are simply living a temporal life on this temporary planet. That is life as “the old man.”
But when we are saved, everything becomes new! We have a purpose in life—not simply for temporal reasons, but for eternal, spiritual ones! We serve the King of kings, and we enjoy His fellowship. Even earthly things come alive with a new purpose! And this purpose never gets old. God is unchanging, and though our earthly circumstances may change, our purpose for living does not. Consider these words of Paul in Ephesians 4.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
Paul is writing to born-again believers, and he is encouraging them to live as saints of God, the way God intended. Saved people may still sin, but we don’t have to…we have been delivered from the power of sin! Paul exhorts his readers to “put off...the old man, which is corrupt...” There is no lasting joy and fulfillment in sin and earthly pleasures. Those things become old and worn out. But living for God, as the new man, is a life of joy and fulfillment. These things never get old!
Paul writes similar words in the epistle to the Colossians.
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
This is a wonderful passage that demonstrates many of the blessings found in the life of the new man. The new man is able to truly seek “those things which are above.” These things are God’s priorities—eternal priorities. The new man is the servant and fellow laborer with God. Life is exciting and new, and does not get old, because God is always working!
Do you know what it means to live as a new creature? Do you know from experience what the life of the new man is, by the power of God? Sin no longer has dominion over the saint, as Paul writes in Romans 6:14. “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
Let me tell you, dear listener, living for God does not get old. The life of the new man isn’t a passing fad; it is a wonderful new, permanent identity. I’m not perfect; I’m still a sinner. But in 1993, God saved my soul, and made me a new creature. I’ve been saved almost 30 years, and I am more excited about God’s work in my life than I ever have been. Eternal things from God do not get old and wear out!
In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes of his severe earthly difficulties, while assuring the reader that because of the renewal of the “inward man”—the soul—he is continuing joyfully in service to God.
For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
God’s Holy Spirit uses the Word of God in the lives of His people to renew them and comfort them and strengthen them. This kind of life does not get boring or humdrum. It is constantly fresh and new. Do you know what it means to live this kind of life, as a new creature?
In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul shows us the difference between lost sinners living an earthly life, and saved sinners living for God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Lost sinners cannot identify with the joy of living as God’s child, and living to serve Him. This is because they do not have the Spirit of God living inside of them. Jesus illustrated the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life using rivers of water.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.)
Do you have the Holy Ghost in your life? Is His presence similar to rivers of living water? I don’t mean, do you believe you have ever experienced God’s work in your life. God is kind and gracious to work in our lives, whether we are lost or saved. But for the saved, who have been made a new creature, God works in special ways, and at all times. The Word of God isn’t a dry and boring book to the saved; it is a living, exciting, wonderful book that never gets old! Life isn’t about temporal goals and obstacles. Instead, it is a daily opportunity to work for spiritual and eternal objectives! And one day, this physical body will wear out and break down, and the saints will be transported to Heaven to live with their Heavenly Father for eternity. If you don’t know what it’s like to be God’s child and have His Holy Spirit in your heart, let me tell you, it NEVER gets old!
I hope you have a great new year. I hope 2023 is your best year yet. But if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, then you are still living on a mere temporal plain. Temporal things get old and wear out. Temporal life is wearisome and discouraging and hard. And if you don’t know the Saviour, that is how your life will be.
Won’t you seek the things that never get old? Won’t you put Christ first in your life, and seek to know Him as your Saviour? He loves you and wants to save you. He wants to wash away your sin, and give you eternal life. He wants to give you eternal purpose, and give you the Holy Spirit for your constant companion. He wants to make you a new creature. These blessings never get old. As Christ said in John 7, “If any man thirst, let him to come unto me, and drink.” If you aren’t a new creature, come to Christ today! That would make 2023 a new year indeed.
If you have any questions about this broadcast or about other truths from the Bible, we at Bible Baptist Church would be glad to visit with you! You may contact us in a number of ways. First, you may contact me via email by writing to truthfortoday@bbcgf.org. You may also find our website at www.bbcgf.org. Bible Baptist Church is located at 6367 Gateway Drive in Grand Forks, and we have regular Sunday morning, Sunday evening, and Wednesday evening services. You are welcome to attend any of them. If you would rather watch the livestream of our services, or if you would like to watch archives of past services, you may find them on our website as well.
Thank you for listening today! Please tune in again next week at this same time for more truth from God’s Word, on Truth for Today.