Good morning, good to be here. Early Merry Christmas to us, well, to you from us. That's the occasion of why we're visiting, and it seems like we get to celebrate it all month, so that's fun. Privileged to worship here, and pray the Lord will bless us with His Spirit this morning. I'd invite you to turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13. These verses stood out to me in my reading a few weeks ago, and it seems like they've been on my mind ever since, so we hope that it's the Lord's will for us to consider these verses this morning, and we hope that the Spirit will bless through the preaching of His word. Hebrews chapter 13, verses 7 and 8. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever." And I think we can all say amen to that together, right? Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. The immutable nature of God, certainly the immutable nature of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Godhead. But something that really stood out to me as I was reading this that seemed to have been really impressed upon my mind is the connection there between verse seven and then verse eight. The immutable nature of God, and as with every doctrine in the word of God, it's not an abstract intellectual thought, okay? And what he says here is that he's speaking of the ministry, and we'll highlight that. Remember them which have the rule over you, those that have been given a position of leadership in the church, particularly those that have been called to be an overseer of a flock and those that have been called to be a pastor. But it's saying here that those that are in that position, if they serve the Lord in the manner that they ought to, then they set a pattern, particularly their faith, that you can follow after. But notice the connection here. The end of their conversation, and the word conversation there is not solely speaking of our verbal communication, right? It's not speaking of just the words that we say. Now certainly, this word is talking about the entire manner of life, the entire conduct that we engage ourself in, and no doubt Your speech is a large part of that, right? You can really ruin your witness if you don't control the tongue, right? We see the dangers of that in James chapter 3. But notice the connection here between the end of their conversation, the end result the stabilizing anchor of their entire manner of life, okay? The entire conduct of their life, what is the stabilizing anchor that really is a witness and a testimony to their entire life? It is the bedrock truth of the immutable, unchangeable nature of God, okay? And we wanna think about that together, but really I wanna Also present for you the bigger picture, because what we believe matters, okay? Doctrine matters, theology matters, and it matters on a daily basis, okay? It changes, what you believe about God changes how you approach the circumstances and the trials and the tribulations that come in your life. And there is a unchangeable bedrock stabilizing anchor that you should rest upon when you go through trials in your life. That should be the end of your conversation as well. And one of those bedrock truths is the unchangeable nature of God, right? The immutable nature of God. that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He can be counted on and relied upon all throughout the testimony of Scripture, and He's just the same today, right? He's just the same today. So if the saints of old in Scripture, or if you have family members or friends that have presented testimonies to you of how the Lord has been faithful to them in times past, Understand that that same God that was faithful to them has not changed one iota, right, from when he was faithful to them. And that should give you not fear and trepidation and anxiety because of this trial I'm going through. Instead, that confidence and that faith should give you a peace to trust in God. So what I'm trying to present for you here is that the connection between the doctrines that we believe and then the way that we conduct our life. You see that? And if you believe that God is a fickle, mutable God, mutable, the word mutate means to change, right? And then you put an I or an M in front of it, that means it can't do that. So mutable means to change and to morph a change to a different state, etc., etc. Well, immutable means that is not possible, right? You cannot change. When we talk about the immutable nature of God, that means that God doesn't have the capacity to change because it's in his nature. And there's many great points to think about related to that. One of them that comes to mind is Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6. I'm the Lord therefore I change not and because he changes not therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed right and we can take comfort in that especially in a doctrinal sense you know we don't have to be concerned that God's gonna he loves me today but I commit some sin that will remove me from his loving presence, and now because I committed some mistake or didn't repent of some sin, now he's gonna cast me in hell. No, that's a God that is changing, right? That's a God that is mutable. What can I rely upon? No, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and the same people that he loved before the foundation of the world, that he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world, the same people he's gonna love in heaven for all of eternity, right? His disposition towards you does not change, because He is immutable. Okay. Verse seven, remember them which have the rule over you, which have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Those that have been appointed by the Holy Spirit, thus appointed by Jesus Christ. to be an overseer of a local flock, of a local congregation, and there should be a degree of respect and reverence that is given to that position. Let's skip on down a little bit further, and notice some of this language is a little bit later in this chapter. In Hebrews chapter 13, and in verse, we'll read verse 16 first. But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Now, we should communicate verbally, but what this is describing here is a giving, particularly in a material sense, to provide, especially for those that are in a leadership capacity, in a pastoral capacity, for those that serve the local flock. Verse 17. obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for you. Those that have the rule over you and that's just simply being in a position of leadership we find in First Peter chapter five, that ministers are not called to be lords over God's heritage, right? They're not called to be authoritative, I think y'all know what I'm trying to say, a dictator, authoritarian, there it is, authoritarian dictators to control the Lord's church. No, they are in a position of servant leadership, a shepherd, a shepherd. But also, with that position and with that leadership, God has ordained for that to have a position of reverence as long as they are using that and following the Lord and their faith is established in the Lord in the manner that they're following Christ. Paul told the Corinthians, follow me as I follow Christ, right? But notice this. And I can speak this from a pastoral sense. There is a heavy, heavy weight and responsibility that the Lord and the Holy Spirit has put upon a man when he's called to pastor a local church. And unless you've been in that position, you really can't articulate it properly to the flock. But it says here, through the Holy Spirit, that they watch for your souls, that they must give account. And that is a sobering responsibility as a pastor. That, yes, there are many factors that go into the health and the growth and many other things in the church, but those that have been called to be a pastor, the Holy Spirit calls us to account for the way that we have been a steward over the Lord's heritage. And we hope that the church understands that. And one of the reasons we hope that the church understands that is that you understand the functioning of the church and you're not doing it solely for him. Obviously, you're doing it to honor and praise the Lord, but also have a little bit of compassion on your pastor to where he doesn't have to answer for you with grief. Instead, I can think about people in both categories. I think I've been a pastor long enough that there's people that I've had to answer for and I've done it with grief. And part of that is probably due to my own shortcomings. And part of that is because I've seen their manner of life, tried to intercede, they didn't They didn't correct. And I saw the signs that you're going off the cliff. And for some reason, they pushed the gas pedal down instead of correcting. And I watched them go over the cliff. And boy, it's sad to have to give an account for somebody like that and have to do it with grief. Oh, but then you have the salt of the earth people that it almost feels like you don't even have to pastor them. They're just so faithful. And they just want to serve the Lord. And boy, it's a privilege to give an account for them with joy. So I can say this, especially since I'm preaching to a church I'm not pastoring. Have a little bit of compassion on your pastors. And understand, and I say that with somewhat levity, but it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God, and it is a fearful thing to have to give an account. I mean, you don't understand everybody has problems sleeping at night from time to time but pastors stay up at night for a different reason than many people and you just don't understand that unless the Holy Spirit has put that on you so respect the office follow their faith as they follow Christ but also one thing to keep in mind as you're serving the Lord hopefully faithfully Put yourself in the position of the pastor and say, can they answer to the Lord with joy from my discipleship or with grief? Now, let's back up here to verse 7. Remember them which have the rule over you, who has spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow. And I want to go very quickly to 1 Timothy. Chapter 4. Here in the previous chapter, in 1 Timothy chapter 3, you have all the qualifications of those that would be considered to be ordained to the office of a bishop. And, yes, the primary difference, the primary difference between a man that is ordained as a deacon and a man that is ordained as a bishop or an elder is that he's apt to teach, right? He has to be able to feed the flock. But then, You look at the qualifications for the ministry, the qualifications for those that can be considered to be ordained as a elder or a bishop. And then once they're ordained, then they could possibly serve in the position of a pastor if the Holy Spirit leads them in that direction. Of all of these that are mentioned, there's only one that deals with their ability to preach the word of God. The rest of it has to do with their conversation, if you will, their manner of life. Because what you preach on Sunday has no weight. It's empty in vain if the rest of your life you're a drunkard or a striker or you are lifted up with pride and all these other things that are warned against. So the conduct of a minister's life is vitally important, maybe even more important in many ways, than their ability to preach a powerful sermon because their manner of life can totally nullify any witness that they could have regardless of how powerfully they might preach on Sunday, okay? But don't miss the connection again between the way in which their manner of life end of their conversation is rooted in what? The doctrinal truths that they believe. The immutable nature of God. And if God is reliable, and God is consistent, and God doesn't change to the best of our ability, particularly for those that are in the ministry, but the ministry is supposed to be a pattern for the rest of the church to follow. So many of these admonitions are not given just to the ministry. Now the ministry is held to a high bar because we've been entrusted with the mysteries of the gospel of Jesus Christ and put in a position to lead the flock of the Lord's Church. But these admonitions do not end with the ministry because the ministry is supposed to set the pattern for you to follow. And what I always say is all these manners of godly Holy conduct that you see that should be considered if someone's being considered to be ordained as a deacon or an elder. Obviously, they're not supposed to be a Druckard. But it's not right for any other member of the church to be a drunkard too, right? You can't say, well, I'm not a minister, so it's okay for me to be a striker. I'm not a minister, so that's not talking to me. No, they're setting the pattern for everyone else to follow. The rest of the church doesn't have a lower standard of holy, godly conduct in their manner of life, okay? So we fast forward here to 1 Timothy chapter four, Verse 12, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in word, in conversation, use that word again, in conversation, in the totality of the conduct and the manner of your life, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity. And boy, this is always so sobering for me to reread this. in many different ways, but also the very first thing that's mentioned there is in word. In word. That our, yes, the totality of our life, that conversation needs to be honoring to the Lord, but you can commit great actions that are honorable to the Lord, but your speech can nullify that. So it all starts, it's so sobering for me to be reminded of as a pastor, that I'm supposed to set the example in my speech. I'm supposed to set the example in word, and then in conversation, and also in charity. I'm supposed to set the example in the outflowing of agape love, of sacrificially giving of myself for the benefit of someone else to set the example in spirit and also notice here in faith and in purity. But faith is specifically highlighted there in Hebrews chapter 13. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith follow. Boy, and that's sobering too. Just in case someone following my manner of speech is sobering enough. Now, I may be able, if the Spirit blesses on Sunday, I feel like that I can maybe be blessed to preach a good sermon on faith from Hebrews chapter 11, right? But if y'all followed me around on a daily basis and you had all of the access to the thoughts that went through my head and the reasoning of faith, or the lack thereof, Would that be a pattern of faith, of trusting God, of faithfulness? If you knew my walk of discipleship of faith, and you knew the fullness of it, would that be a pattern that the church could follow? And I'm not gonna answer that for you publicly. Because I struggle the same way that dad did as his child was at the point of death. Lord, I believe! Oh, but Lord, help thou mine unbelief, right? I struggle with that every day. And I'm confident that you do too. But the ministry is supposed to exhibit faith in such a way that other people can follow their pattern of faith. And boy, that's sobering. That's sobering for those of us that are in the ministry, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Now, What's the end at the end of the day of our faith? The end of our faith is Jesus Christ. It's the object of our faith, right? The end of our faith, but that belief in who Jesus Christ is, that he doesn't change, that he's reliable, that he's consistent, that he is there when I need him, that he's to be reliable, that's the kind of Faithfulness that I should exhibit in my walk of discipleship. Okay. Now obviously that's a bar will never meet perfectly but Back home. We've been going through the book of Nehemiah recently concluded that and I was trying to present and one of those messages that your portion your portion of the wall of the kingdom of God is the most important portion of the wall because the churches and the kingdom of God is only as strong as its weakest link right and Satan is always trying to find cracks and crevices and weaknesses in the wall of the kingdom of God and in conversations with church members after that after that message We were both discussing our desire to be to be consistent, to be reliable, and one of the things that I expressed with that church member is that I just want, in the kingdom of God, to be reliable. I want people to look at me and I am consistent to the best of my ability with all of my shortcomings, and there's a bunch of them, and I'm mutable, and I'm not, I don't have the nature of God, but you know what? I hope that we conduct ourself in such a way that people know that they can rely on us. And they can rely on us in general, but they can rely on us in the kingdom of God and in the church. We should be reliable. Why? Because Jesus is reliable. He's consistent. He's steadfast. We are pattering our walk of discipleship after Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, right? We should be a pillar in the kingdom of God. We should be strong and reliable. And by the way, the connection here is that you're following the pattern of the ministry that is hopefully displaying this steadfastness, this consistency, this reliable nature. But God gave the church, the ministry, so that you would not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, so that you would be stable, so that you would be consistent, especially in your doctrine. Let's read here in verse 9. Be not carried away about with diverse and strange doctrines. for it's a good thing that the heart be established and a good thing. Let's keep your finger there, but I want to go to Ephesians chapter 4. And he talks here in Ephesians chapter 4 that God gave gifts unto men. What was the purpose of God giving gifts unto men? For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry It's for the edifying of the body of Christ. We all come in the unity of the faith now Why did God give you the ministry whose faith follow follow the end of their conversation, okay? The ministry should be consistent and reliable that what you see is what you get Okay, you don't say one thing to somebody else and then you say something entirely contradictory to somebody else that's in a different setting You are consistent and reliable, especially with the doctrine and in your handling of the Word of God. You don't say one thing to one group of people and then a different thing to somebody else. No, they know that with you in the ministry, but again, that's the pattern for all of us to follow, that what you see is what you get. I can trust their word. And again, we're following the pattern of Jesus Christ, and we can trust His Word, right? Because He's consistent, and He's reliable. But why did God give you, the church, what's one of the reasons that He gave you the ministry? It's so that you would be steadfast and reliable, and not be, verse 14, that you henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro. See, that's not very reliable, is it? Right? Tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Jesus Christ. And then to strengthen the whole body, the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth. So God gave you the ministry, church, so that you would be consistent and reliable. 1 Corinthians 15, 58. Therefore, brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. And who are we pattering ourself after if we're steadfast and unmovable? Jesus Christ, the rock of ages, right? He's immutable. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. considering the end of their conversation. So the final end result of the manner of life of the ministry, you should be able to see exhibited in their life that their steadfast bedrock anchor is that they believe that God is immutable, that God is consistent, that God is reliable. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I'm just so thankful that I have been blessed to understand the beautiful truths of many aspects of the character and the nature of God in Scripture. One of those being the immutable nature of God. And part of that is because by the providence of the Lord, I was blessed to have been raised in a home where it was just, you know, presented to me from an early age, right? I didn't have to seek it and find it. It just, by its providence, the Lord put me in the right position. But if you interact with other people, this, the doctrines that we believe, they affect our daily life so much. I mean, think about someone that has this view of God that, you know, he may love me today, he may hate me tomorrow and cast me in hell. You know, Elijah was kind of mocking the gods of Baal, and he said, well, as they're crying to him, well, maybe he's taking a nap, right? Maybe he's sleeping. Maybe he's on a journey. Maybe he's unavailable right now. You know, maybe the the prayer connections on airplane mode, maybe you can't get to him right now, okay? Well, we don't have to be concerned about that with our God, right? No, because he's reliable, he's consistent, he's available all the time. But how much fear and concern and anxiety Would that put, and pressure, would that put on your life if I know that I'm going through my most challenging trial in my life, and I don't really know if God's gonna be there with me, right? What's the promises of God? I will never, that's just a few verses before what we're reading right here. I will never leave you or forsake you. All those characteristics of God, the things that he cannot do, Really, all those things that God cannot do are rooted in His immutable nature that He cannot change, right? God cannot lie. Well, if you lie, then that's some degree of a change in your mind, in your nature, in your perspective. He has no ability to tell a falsehood. and to change his disposition towards God. And because of that, again, that's an absolutely bedrock truth. But because we know that God doesn't lie, that roots our confidence in our eternal security, in hope of eternal life. which God that cannot lie promised it before the world began. And if he cannot lie, and he cannot change, and if he loved me before the world began, I'm not gonna be able to commit some mistake and forget to repent of it before I die, and God's gonna then cast me in hell, right? No, because that contradicts the immutable nature of God. And I think about so many of these people, you've probably had these conversations too, that have this view of God that he is very, very fickle and he changes his disposition toward his people based on the way that you interact with him, right? And these people that have struggled, because all they've ever heard is you gotta pray a prayer, you gotta perform an action, you gotta be baptized, especially those that They've been told that you gotta pray a sinner's prayer to be regenerated or to be born again. And you've probably had conversations with people that, I've prayed the prayer X amount of times, but I just have no peace about it. I don't feel a peace and a confidence that I'm really one of God's children. You wanna know what absolves all that? First of all, reading Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4, right, that God chose you before the foundation of the world. But that doctrine, I think about all of just the physical effects of the stress of people that have high blood pressure and probably residual heart problems and all these physical problems because they are terrified that I didn't pray this prayer right and therefore God supposedly loved me on the cross because he loves everybody, but if I don't do something just right Actually, he's gonna pull the rug out from under me and throw me in hell at the end of time that affects your physical health Right. I mean that that's gonna cause residual health problems. And what's that all stemmed from an incorrect understanding of the nature of God and doctrine and Am I making sense? This affects, and this is one example of the immutable nature of God, but you know, I don't have to have all of the heart problems and high blood pressure being concerned that God's disposition and love toward his people is going to change by something that I do. What do I, how can I have a peace that passes all understanding in the midst of a bunch of people maybe that have nothing but fear and anxiety over their eternal state. What is the difference in my disposition where I can have perfect blood pressure and have a peace that passes all understanding? What's the difference? It's the doctrine that I believe. See that? The end of their conversation. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And by the way, in closing, I just wanna highlight a few aspects of God's unchangeable nature that we can especially rely upon. I highlighted Malachi, but I'm gonna go ahead and turn over there. Malachi chapter three, the last book of the Old Testament. Let's go to Matthew and then go back one chapter. Malachi chapter three, And concluding back on the book of Nehemiah, the book of Malachi, the prophecy of Malachi is connected to the last portion of Nehemiah in Nehemiah chapter 13. So we spent a little bit of time in Malachi, and we're not gonna set the whole context for you, but this is a very cold, irreverent, dark, spiritual time that these people were dwelling in the midst of. And in the midst of these pretty. Pretty harsh rebukes. I mean, this is almost kind of one of, it's hard to highlight just one Old Testament prophecy, because they were messing up so much. All of them were pretty harsh. But this is almost kind of like the Old Testament book of 1 Corinthians. It's like, man, they're not doing anything right. I mean, he's laying into them at every single turn. But in the midst of this, where they're doing almost nothing right, he reminds them of this bedrock truth. for I am the Lord now what's the basis of the next phrase I change not why does he not change because he's God yeah I am the Lord I change not why does he not change because he's God that's it that's his character that's his nature for I am the Lord I change not therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed why is it that we can have peace and confidence in the eternal security of all of God's people that he chose in Christ before the foundation of the world. Why? God made a promise before the world began, and he cannot lie, right? And part of that promise, that covenant, was that he was gonna come into this world and save his people from their sins. And also he cannot fail or be discouraged, right? And all of that funnels into God cannot change. And his disposition toward his people is not gonna change. And therefore, we can have peace and confidence that his people are not going to be consumed when God carries out his judgment at his second coming. Let's go to Jeremiah. Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah 31 in verse 3, the Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. It says in the book of Psalms that from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God, right? God is consistent and reliable from eternity past to eternity future from everlasting to everlasting so therefore his disposition of love toward the people that he chose in Christ before the world began it is an everlasting love which what does that mean it means it lasts forever right there's nothing that can separate you from the love of God and there was something that could separate you from the love of God that means that Jesus Christ failed. That means that God lied. That means God changed. You see how it just crumbles the character of God if we hold to anything other than the eternal security of all of the elect that God chose before the foundation of the world, right? But God loved you with an everlasting love. And boy, is that not a bedrock anchor truth that we need to go back to in the midst of the trials and the troubles of this life, right? I can rely on that no matter what. That's what David in the Psalms said, when father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. Why is he going to take me up? Because he's loved me with an everlasting love. I love 2 Timothy chapter when the Apostle Paul, he's writing his last inspired letter, and he says, everybody's left me. Demas has left me, and these other ministers, they went to serve the Lord. They're following the leadership of the Spirit, and they went to serve in other places. And then Alexander the Coppersmith, he did me much evil, and then in my last answer, nobody was there. I was called into court. I didn't have anybody to stand there with me. But he said, you know what? In spite of all that, God was right there with me, right? Because He promised me, He's never going to leave me, and He's never going to forsake me. So even if you're invested in a church, by the way, then you should never be in a situation where all of people will forsake you if the church is doing what it ought to do. But even if you did reach that point, and the Apostle Paul there is standing before that Roman court, and he didn't feel like he had anyone in his corner. He said, you know what? In that moment, I felt Jesus Christ standing there with me. Now, why did he have that confidence? Because he knew that the same God that was with him in all those shipwrecks, the same God that was with him when he was beaten all those times, the same God that was with him through all those different trials, he promised me that he'll never leave me and he'll never forsake me. And I also know that guy cannot lie and that guy cannot change, right? Now, what difference in the way that he responded to that situation that he's describing there in 2 Timothy chapter four, where he is being accused falsely, and he doesn't have any physical person there to aid him, he's trusting that God is right there with me because of his immutable nature. What different situation would that be if there's someone who has an incorrect, let's just say in today's terms, a prosperity gospel disposition of the Lord that if I'm not, if I don't have enough faith or if I'm not giving enough money to the church, then the Lord's not going to be with me. What would be the contrasting responses to that type of trial for the Apostle Paul, who was resolute and peaceful because he knew God was right there with him, or a person who has this incorrect understanding of doctrine that, you know what, maybe my faith isn't strong enough, maybe I didn't give enough, and God's gonna ditch me when they go and get stuff, right? The way that they physically respond to that trial is gonna be significantly different. Now, what's the difference in how the Apostle Paul responded? He was rooted in the truth that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, right? And we'll just conclude by highlighting for you the many verses we can turn to, so we won't do that, that the word of God is consistent and reliable and it endures forever. Which, that shouldn't be surprising, right? Because it's God-breathed, God's opinion on something You know God's opinion on sodomy has not changed since he burned up sodomy. You don't know God's opinion on sodomy Look at the ashes that are left and when he burned up Sodom and Gomorrah, right? That's his opinion and His opinion has not changed why because God has not changed and his word has not changed his disposition toward Sin has not changed His word is reliable and his word can be counted upon. Why? Because God is reliable. Which, by the way, what does that mean? That means that our word should be reliable. If we're disciples of Jesus Christ, people should be able to take me at my word. You know, I, you know, long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, supposedly people used to borrow money on handshakes. If I was a banker, That's bad business, right? But supposedly, that's what people did. Why? Because people's word meant something, right? Their word meant something. And if we're going to be disciples of Christ, people need to be able to trust the consistency of not just our verbal communication. Now, our word and our speech, it needs to be reliable, right? We don't need to be gossiping and telling one person one thing and one person another and stirring up strife in both directions. We need to be consistent and reliable, tell one person the exact same thing that we tell even someone who wholeheartedly disagrees with it. I'm going to speak the truth in love even if you don't respond to it very well. We need to be consistent and reliable in our word because Jesus Christ is consistent and reliable in His word. but not just our verbal communication. The totality of our life needs to be consistent and reliable. And again, what's all that based in? In God's sovereignty, God's immutability, God's consistency, and we're thankful to be able to uphold the Word of God that we know we can rely upon, right? We approach the Word of God knowing that it's reliable. We're not trying to find, you know, I will, it's probably not the best place to say this, but you know, I can't reconcile every single supposedly numerical inconsistency in scripture. You know what I can say is that they're absolutely saying the same thing even if I can't make the math work perfectly. Because most of the time they're describing one specific aspect and then one specific aspect, you know. But it's not up to me to make all the math work because I approach the Word of God with an understanding that it's reliable and consistent. And you know what? I can have faith in it. Even if I can't make that math work perfectly, I know that that is not an inconsistency because God's Word doesn't change. And God's Word is consistent because God is consistent, right? And that just gives you so much more stability. And boy, you see people that are just They're not just tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. They're tossed to and fro with just everything, right? Y'all know people that just don't have any consistency. Their opinions change on everything on a whim. You call them. You don't know if they're going to answer. You don't know if I can count on them when I need them. And I do not want to be that person. I want to be reliable and consistent, because That's the disposition that a disciple of Christ should have, right? Because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Hope these thoughts have been edifying for you, and if that's the case, we thank the Lord for it. God bless.