Where do you look for stability in an ever-changing, tumultuous world? As the year 2025 ends and 2026 begins, we are reminded of the reality of change. Some people look to the future for a fresh start, with hope and expectation. On the other hand, others see the new year as just another indication that the “good old days” are long gone. The uncertainty of the future can bring anxiety and uncertainty. In his first sermon of 1858, Spurgeon reminds us that true stability is found only in the unchanging Christ.
“It is well that there is one person who is the same,” Spurgeon begins. “It is well that there is one stable rock amidst the changing billows of this sea of life; for how many and how grievous have been the changes of this year?” Perhaps he recalled the tragic Lewisham Rail Crash of the previous year. Two trains had collided, killing eleven people and injuring thirty others. Such tragedies remind us of the finitude of life.
Spurgeon encourages his congregation that, amid the swirling seas of life, our anchor is secure: Jesus is Lord. He never changes. His love, his Word, and his gift of salvation hold as true today as they did before time began. “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.”
Excerpt:
“Should [Christ] come on earth to visit us again, as sure he will, we should find him the same Jesus; as loving, as approachable, as generous, as kind, and though arrayed in nobler garments than he wore when first he visited earth, though no more the Man of Sorrows and griefs acquaintance, yet he would be the same person, unchanged by all his glories, his triumphs, and his joys. We bless Christ that amid his heavenly splendors his person is just the same, and his nature unaffected. ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.’”
Read the rest of the sermon here.