are on the attributes of God,
on the attributes of God. I'd like to look today at the
immutability of God, the immutability of God. Turn if you would to
Malachi chapter 3, Malachi chapter 3. Some have said that God was
a God of wrath in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament He's
a God of love and mercy. But beloved, we know that the
Scriptures declare that our God never changes. He's the same
yesterday, today and forever. He's always the same. He's always
the same. So let's look at some Scripture,
because the Scripture is our final authority, and this is
always where we go to find the truth about anything. and the
truth about who our God really is. Malachi chapter 3, and we'll
just read verse 6, verse 6, and the truth of the immutability
of God is brought forth right here in this verse. The immutability
of God just means that He never changes, beloved. He never changes. He's the same again, yesterday,
today, and forever. Look at what it says in Malachi
3.6, For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. So he declares his name here
as Lord. So we know from our studies before
that this is Jehovah, which means the self-existent one. the self-existent
one. And just the name Jehovah, beloved,
speaks of his absolute sovereignty, speaks of his self-existence,
and speaks of his absolute power. His absolute power. He says here,
for I am the Lord, the self-existent one, Jehovah, I change not. I change not. Therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. And note what he declares right
here about himself. He says, I change not. So we
see here in the Old Testament that God declares Himself immutable. He never changes. He declares
right here before us His immutability. Right there. Right there. In
very plain words for us to read. And here before us is one of
the divine perfections of our great God. And this is one that's
really not thought upon enough nowadays. The fact that our God
never changes. And this is, beloved, this is
what sets Him apart from us. This is what sets Him apart from
us. His unchangeableness. The fact of His immutability. This is what distinguishes our
great God, who is the Creator, from the creatures that He's
created. The fact that our God is perpetually the same. The
same. He's not subject to change. He
never does. He never does. He never changes
in his attributes. He never changes in who he is.
Now we're constantly changing, aren't we? We are. We constantly. We're not the same person we
were a year ago. We're not. We've changed. We're staying physiologically
the same, but we've changed. We've grown, and especially for
believers, although we don't see our own growth and grace,
we grow in grace. And we grow in the knowledge
and truth of our Savior. Turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy
chapter 32. Deuteronomy chapter 32. Our God never changes in
His being, He never changes in His attributes, and He never
changes in His determinations. He does whatever He pleases,
but He never changes. And think of that in light of
His love for His people. Think of that in light for His
love for His elect. His love for us, for we who are
His born-again blood-bought people, never changes. Never. Never. It's remarkable. Look at this in Deuteronomy 32,
verse 4. He is the rock. His work is perfect. All God's works are perfect,
beloved. Perfect. For all His ways are judgment,
a God of truth and without iniquity. Just and right is He. And then
over in 1 Samuel, I'll read several other places where it talks about
Him being a rock. And the metaphor, beloved, the
metaphor that's brought forth here with our God being a rock
is that He's immovable. He doesn't change. And I'm going
to give us a word picture once I read a few more scriptures
here that talk about our Lord being a rock. 1 Samuel 2, verse
2 says, There is none holy as the Lord. For there is none beside
thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Psalm 18.2 says
this, The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer,
my God, my strength, in whom I will trust, my buckler, and
the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. Psalm 71.3, the
scriptures declare this, Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto
I may continually resort. Thou hast given commandment to
save me, for thou art my rock and my fortress. He's our rock. He never changes. He's our rock,
beloved. He's our refuge. He's our fortress.
And then Isaiah says this. I love this. Isaiah 32, 2. Let's
turn there if you would. Isaiah 32, 2. This is a wonderful
scripture, beloved. An absolute wonderful scripture.
Isaiah 32, verse 2. It says a man, and we know that
man is Christ Jesus our Lord. We know that's our Lord from
studying the scripture before a man shall be in hiding place
from the wind in a covert from the tempest is rivers of of water
in a dry place. Verse two is the shadow of a
great rock in a weary land. So again, we see our and there's
many more references. I just pulled these ones out.
There's many more references to our God in reference to the
fact that he's like a rock. And again, that's because he's
immovable and unchangeable. Now when I was in Oregon, here's
a word picture for us. When I was in Oregon, along the
coast of Oregon, there's these great big rocks. I always tell
people, if you're gonna go to Oregon, go down the coast. Because
it's absolutely stunning. It'll take your breath away.
Do you see these rocks just off the coastline? Huge rocks, beloved. Towering up. And the water is
hitting them. The water's hitting them, and
they're just beautiful. And some of them are quite big.
And oftentimes, Vicki and I would go to the ocean and just watch
the waves crash on those rocks. It's just, you could sit there
for hours and watch it. It's incredible. And our Lord
is compared to a rock. Let us ponder the truth that's
set before us when we see a rock even in the ocean. Pink says
this, therefore God is compared to a rock which remains immovable. So those rocks are sitting there
in the water, they're immovable, beloved. When the entire ocean
surrounding them is continually in a fluctuating state, even
so, all the creatures are subject to God, God is immovable. He's
just like that rock. All around there's change and
movement, but He is the same. He's constant, beloved. He's
constant. We saw that happen with those
rocks in those oceans. Year after year we go there and
they would pound upon those same rocks and the rocks were still
there, beloved. Immovable. Immovable. And this
is a picture of how our God is immovable. He's unchanging. So
think of the security that the believer has in trusting in our
God. Trusting in the one who never
changes. The one who never changes. Ever. Ever. That's the one who we trust
in too, Jesus Christ. He's what? The rock of our salvation,
isn't he? We trust in the one who is God
incarnate in the flesh. That's who the Lord Jesus was.
He's not just an ordinary man. He's God incarnate in the flesh.
He's the God-man, the Word made flesh. The scripture says, The
Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And that's who our God is.
That's who our Savior is. And our God has no beginning
and no ending. He can never change. He has been
in the past as He is right now and as He ever will be. The Father
of lights is called, in whom there's no variableness, neither
shadow of turning. He never changes. He is everlastingly
the same. Holy. Righteous. The great sovereign
God. Turn, if you would, to James
chapter 1. We see this brought forth here
in James 1, verses 17 and 18. And again, oh what comfort the
believer can glean from this precious truth of the immutability
of our great God. He is unchanging. Therefore,
His love towards us is unchanging. His salvation that we have in
Him is unchanging, beloved. It's not determined by us. Isn't
that wonderful? That's wonderful that our salvation is not determined
upon what we do, but our salvation is held and kept by the One who
never changes. Oh, what peace this gives the
believer! What peace this gives the believer! James 1, verses
17 and 18, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,
and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is
no variable, neither shadow of turning. He doesn't change. He
doesn't change. Of his own will, look at this,
of his own will begot he us with the word of truth. It was the
will of God that we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we
who believe. That's wonderful. It's not determined
upon us. No, it's of his own will. He
saves whom he will when he wills. We pray, Lord, if you will, please
save them. But we leave it in his hands, don't we? We leave
it in his hands. And it says that we should be
a kind of first fruits of his creature. Beloved of God, our
God is immutable. He's unchanging. He's immutable
in the essence of His being. He's immutable in the perfections
of His nature. He's immutable in His purposes
and decrees. He's immutable in His love towards
His elect. And He's immutable in the promises
of His covenant, which are all found in and through Christ Jesus
alone. He never changes. He never changes. So this glorious truth is set
before us. And this, again, is what distinguishes
Jehovah. This is what distinguishes God,
is the fact of His unchangeableness. His unchangeableness. This is
what sets Him apart, beloved. And His holiness does too, and
His righteousness does too, but the fact that He never ever changes. Never. And here on earth, things
change, don't they? We have different seasons happen.
We have different seasons happen, people change, people die, they're
born. Circumstances change in our lives. We're young and then we grow
old. Things change. But what rest
the believer can find in this precious truth right here, beloved?
In this precious truth right here. Turn, if you would, to
Hebrews 13.8. Oh, what precious truth we can find before us here. The fact that our God never changes. And we saw the Old Testament
proclaims that, right? In Malachi chapter 3, verse 6,
we saw that. That God never changes. Now look
in Hebrews, you know, God never changes either. In the New Testament,
look at this. Hebrews 13, 8. Jesus Christ,
what? The same yesterday, today, and
forever. Verse 8. Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. Well, we know that the Lord Jesus
Christ is God incarnate in the flesh. He's the one spoken of
in Malachi. Well, we see here in the New
Testament, He never changes, beloved. He doesn't change at
all. He's the same God. Do you know
that He was a God of love in the Old Testament? People often
talk about, oh, He was such a God of wrath. No, He was a God of
love. He had mercy on the Israelites, didn't He? He had mercy on His
people, just like He has mercy on His people in Christ, beloved.
They were just a picture of the church. They were just a picture.
Oh, how merciful is our great God! How merciful He is! And we know that the Lord Jesus
Christ, who it says here, the same yesterday, today, and forever,
in Hebrews 13.8, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ is the
God-man. And the scriptures both in the Old Testament we saw,
and now in the New, proclaim that our God never changes. He never changes. Never changes. So let us remember that God,
our God, is immutable in His essence. His nature and His being
are infinite. We can't even begin to fathom
who He is. We can't. We start to think about
the things of who our God is and we are very quickly in deep
water, beloved. Very quickly. Very quickly. He is subject to no change. And
think of this, there never was a time when God was not God. And there never will be a time
when God is not God. There never will be. He will
never cease to be God. Never. He's the same yesterday,
today, and forever. He does not change. He never
grows in knowledge. He never grows in wisdom. He
never needs to improve on anything. He is always perfect. Always perfect. He's always righteous. He's always holy. He's unchanging,
beloved. He's unchanging. He cannot change
for better or for worse. We can, can't we? But He never
changes. He is perfect. Perfect. In all His attributes. In all His attributes, beloved.
He proclaims in the text that we looked at in Malachi, I am
the Lord, I change not. Oh my. And these are the words
of God Himself. Those words in Malachi are the
words of God. He says, for I am the Lord. He
declares who He is. And then He declares His immutability.
He says, I change not. I change not. He is absolutely
unaffected by anything outside of Himself. He has always been
God. He is God now and He will always
be God. Nothing and no one will change
what He is and who He is. He is perpetually the same. Perpetually
the same. And think of this, beloved, think
of this. Time passes. Think of the ages that have passed. Think of the ages that have passed.
Think of the amount of people that have lived on this earth
and died. Time and ages have passed. Governments have risen
up. Empires have risen up and fallen. And he is uninfluenced by the
passing of time. Isn't that amazing? He's ever
the same. He never changes. Again, change
is always happening in the world here, isn't it? And you get a
government rise up, or you get something happen over here, something
happen over there, a war break out. Our God is unaffected by
anything and anybody. He is perpetually the same, the
same. And think upon this, God's power
therefore can never diminish, can it? It can never diminish. And His glory can never fade,
because He's unchanging. So what peace again this brings
to the believer in Christ, knowing, again, that His love for us never
changes. Never changes. Some of you think,
well, come on Wayne, surely when you do something, His love for
us never changes. Never. Now that's remarkable. That's incredible, isn't it?
Never ever changes. Never. And so think of this too. His salvation in Christ. never
ever changes. So the believer has salvation
in Christ, that salvation never ever changes. That's why the
scripture says that we have an inheritance reserved for us in
heaven that can't be touched, beloved. That can't be defiled. That's unchanging because it
is He who has us in His hand. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. And think of this too, the forgiveness
of sins that the believer has in Christ never changes. I'm
pardoned. I stand before you, a man totally
pardoned of all my sin. And I am absolutely amazed. And
it's not by anything, nothing I did, but all by what Christ
did. And if you're a believer in Christ,
you can say the same thing. And that'll never, ever change. Isn't that wonderful, beloved?
Because our salvation is in the one who never, ever changes. Never. Never. ages past God remains
everlastingly the same and the believer all we can say is hallelujah
what a savior hallelujah what a savior all my ages come and
ages go But as one commentator said, there are no furrows on
His eternal brow. No age has changed Him. No years
have marked Him. As time passes, He sees ages
pass. But He is, as Brother John likes
to say, He is the Great I Am. The Great I Am. That's who He
is, beloved. That's our God. That's our Savior. The Great
I Am. And He is absolutely unchanging. Unchanging. Oh, what a hope we
have, beloved. What a hope we have in Christ.
So let us always remember that our God is absolutely immutable. He never, ever changes. Never. The scripture says, unto
Him be the glory and the church by Jesus Christ throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen. That's why we give Him
all the glory. Amen. All because of who He is. Our
Lord has not changed in His power. He was powerful in eternity.
And beloved, He's powerful now. He's the one mediator between
God and man. And He was wise when He formed
the mighty globe which we live on, this earth. And He was wise
when He laid down the foundations of the universe. And He had wisdom
when He planned the way of our salvation, beloved. All the way
from eternity. How we would be redeemed by the
Lord Jesus Christ and His wisdom has never changed, beloved. Never
changed. He was wise in eternity, He's
wise now and He will forever be wise. He has never grown in
wisdom or diminished in wisdom. He is the all-wise One. See, and every attribute is magnified
by this. Every attribute, He never changes.
That's why we must be clothed in the righteousness of Christ.
Because without the righteousness of Christ, we cannot stand in
the presence of a holy God. Because He doesn't change, does
He? And sin can't be in His presence. Therefore, we must be clothed,
beloved. We must be clothed in the precious righteousness of
Christ, that we're able to access and come before our great God.
who is holy and just, and He will be forever holy and just. He's unchanged, He's unchanged
in His truth. That which He's promised, He
brings to pass, beloved. He's spoken it, it shall be done. Let's go back to Malachi again
and look at that. So let us ponder this. Again,
I keep going back to this, but His love towards His people has
never changed, beloved. because it's in Christ. He sent
his son to ratify the everlasting covenant. He sent him down to
earth to bleed and die as the substitute of his people, to
satisfy the holy law of God and justice in their place. And the
Lord Jesus Christ did it willingly. Spurgeon comments, take any one
attribute of God and I will write Semper Ideum on it, which means
always the same. Always the same. Any attribute
of God. He never changes. He never changes. Look at this in Malachi again,
3.6. For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. The reason that we who are as
born again blood-bought people, the reason we're not consumed
is because He decreed in eternity to have mercy on us in Christ. That's why we're not consumed,
beloved. That's why we're not consumed. Oh my, because our
God does not change. He's loved His people from eternity,
beloved. He's loved them in Christ. He
chose them in Christ. And He's loved them from eternity
in Christ. And therefore, He does not change.
Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Think of this. His power is unabated. His wisdom
is undiminished. His holiness never changes. The
attributes of God can no more change than deities can cease
to be. He is God and He always will
be God. And He never changes. He never
changes. His truth is immutable too. His
word is settled forever in heaven. His love is eternal. We know
because the scriptures declare His love for His people. He says,
I've loved you with an everlasting love. That love's never changed. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't it
amazing to think that God loved us from eternity? And that love
towards us never changed, even when we were shaking our fist
at Him, even when we were born and dead in trespasses and sins?
That's why He sought us. That's why the Holy Spirit come
and sought us out, because we were objects of His divine love,
beloved, His eternal love. Oh, what mercy. Oh, what grace.
Oh, it's incredible. And the believer says, me? Me,
who is a sinner, even though I'm saved, man, I'm still a sinner?
Me? Oh, my. The Lord doesn't change in
His love to His people. His mercy and His grace is everlasting. Psalm 100, verse 5 says, For
the Lord is good, and His mercy is everlasting, and His truth
endureth to all generations. Remember, in our study in Peter,
it says, you're a chosen generation, He has a people in each generation,
right? Well, that's what the Scripture,
Psalm 100, verse 5, For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting,
and His truth endureth to all generations. He has a people
in each generation, and His mercy endureth to them. Oh my. It's wonderful. So let us ponder
the fact also that God changes not in his plans. Now a man may
begin to build something and we may quickly find out that
we're not able to finish the project that we started. Either
the building, the cost of the material, we may run out of money,
or we may run out of time. We may run out of time. And therefore
we have to change our plans. But this could never be said
of God. This could never be said of God. He has abound the stores
at His command. He's the one who has spoken worlds
into existence. Spoken worlds into existence.
He's the one who the scripture says counts all the nations of
this world as drops in a bucket. Drops in the bucket. They are
counted as the small insignificant dust of the balance. Remember
when they used to weigh things and all that? The dust of the
balance. They wouldn't even clean that off, right? Because it was
so insignificant. The Lord counts all the nations
of the world like that. Just like dropping a bucket.
Oh my. Has anyone ever stayed our God's
power? Has anyone ever thwarted God's
plans? Does anyone set forth to do anything
without a plan? No, we set forth a plan and then
we execute it, don't we beloved? Then we execute it. Beloved,
He has planned and purposed salvation in Christ Jesus from eternity. He has purposed to save His people
from eternity in and through the Lord Jesus Christ in Him
alone. God is a mastermind. He's arranged everything in His
immutable wisdom long before He had anything be executed. And having settled it, He never
alters it. He never alters it. So think
of that of our salvation in Christ. It can never be altered. It's wonderful, isn't it? It's
wonderful, beloved. My goodness. And the reason it
can be never never ever be altered or changed is because it's God
Himself who has purchased us. It is God Himself who came to
this earth to die for His people upon Calvary's cross, who shed
His precious blood for us. Turn, if you would, to Jeremiah
24. If He has planned to save His
people, and He has from their sins in Christ, If I'm only one
of those he saved, then, beloved, I am safe in Christ, in Christ
alone. Oh, what peace that brings the
Lord's people. A hymn writer wrote, my name
from the palms of his hands eternity will not erase. Impressed on
his heart, it remains in marks of indelible grace. My, oh my,
what a salvation the believer has in Christ. Think of how much
comfort the believer can glean in light of the little word shall. The little word shall. Look at
this in Jeremiah 24. Jeremiah 24. And I will give
them in heart to know me that I am the Lord. And they shall
be my people. There's no wiggle room there,
beloved. They shall be my people. And I will be their God. Now remember this, our God's
not changed. He never changes, eh? So what
he pronounces here is going to come to pass. They shall be. Think of that in light of we
who are God's born-again blood-bought people. There was a time when
we were shaking our fist at God, wasn't there? When we came into
this world dead in trespasses and sins. I didn't want anything
to do with the Bible. I didn't want anything to do
with the gospel before the Lord saved me. I didn't want anything
to do with God's people before the Lord saved me. I didn't. It's my shame. But I was one
of God's sheep from eternity. And when I look at this verse
here, and I'll give them a new heart to know me, he's done that.
I'm born again by the Holy Spirit of God. That I am the Lord. He teaches us who he is, isn't
he? teaches us. And they shall be my people.
And we're only counting His people because He said it. It's going
to come to pass. They shall be my people. And
I will be their God. Is He not our God? We who are
His redeemed blood-bought people? Oh, He's our God. He's our hope. We have no hope outside of Him,
do we? None at all. And for they shall return unto
me with their whole heart, all we do. We run to Christ when
He makes us willing, don't we? In a day of His power, we run
as fast as we can to Christ. Oh my! Think of this in light
of the forgiveness also which we have in our sins being washed
clean by the precious blood of Christ. The Scripture says, Come
now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins
be as scarlet, double-dye red, They shall be white as snow,
white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. How are we who are sinners made
perfect and clean? Because we're clothed in the
righteousness of Christ. We're still sinners while we're
here on this earth, aren't we? But we're clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. And when God looks upon us, he sees the righteousness
of Christ. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. Those who have been redeemed
by Christ shall come to Him, shall come, they shall be made
willing in the day of God's power. Isaiah 35.10, the scriptures
declare, and the ransomed of the Lord shall return. It's not
they may, it's not they may if they walk an aisle. Doesn't say
that, does it? It doesn't say, well they may
if they pray a prayer. It doesn't say that, does it?
Turn if you would, Isaiah 35, look at this. Isaiah 35, verse
10. This is the truth of the scripture.
The Lord makes us willing in the day of His power. He's the
one who has to bring us to Christ. He's the one who has to draw
us to Christ. He's the one who has to regenerate us. Otherwise
we stay dead in trespasses and sins with no hope. But look at
this in Isaiah 35, 10, it says, And the ransom of the Lord, that's
the purchased of the Lord, and He's purchased His people, hasn't
He? He's purchased His people with His own precious blood.
And the ransom of the Lord shall return, there's no maybe. And it doesn't say anything dependent
upon us, does it? Shall return. And come to Zion
with songs and everlasting joy, everlasting joy upon their heads,
and they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow, and sigh
and shall flee away. Oh, what comfort we have in Christ,
beloved. What comfort we have in Christ.
I'm going to run out of time here, but I'm going to try to
get this last couple points in here. The next thing I'd like
us to consider is that God is immutable in His counsel. He
seeks no help from anyone. He needs no help. He needs no
help. I had somebody, I think I mentioned
to you guys, I had one of the guys I talked to, his name's
Paul, I talk to him all the time, he's across the road there, and
he told me that I need to do a little bit when it comes to
leading people to Christ. I said, God doesn't need my help
to save anybody. God can save whom he will when
he wills. He does not need, I told the man, he doesn't need my help,
he doesn't need your help. He needs nobody's help, beloved.
Nobody's help. Nobody. He's absolutely sovereign.
He can save whom he wills. The gifts and calling of God
are without repentance. He seeks no help. He has no counselors.
He neither slumbers nor sleeps. He's the all-wise, watchful Jehovah.
He's absolutely sovereign in everything he does and what he's
pleased to do. He's unchangeable in his purposes and his decrees.
And no one can alter what he does. No one can stay his hand,
the scripture declares. There's never a reason or never
any need for Him to revise His decrees. He's all-knowing and
all-powerful. He is Jehovah, the self-existent
One, the Almighty One. And this is why the Scriptures
declare that the counsel of the Lord standeth forever. Because the counsel of the Lord
standeth forever because He's unchanging. Therefore, His decrees
don't change either, beloved. Nothing changes. Nothing changes. He's unchangeable. Let's close
with Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Our great
God has confirmed, signed and sealed every promise of His gospel
of salvation in and through Christ alone. It is not yea and nay,
it is not promising today and denying tomorrow, but the gospel
is yea, yea to the glory of God and it's all in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Hebrews chapter 6. Look at this,
verses 17 to 20. Wherein God willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel.
There it is right there. The fact that it's unchanging,
beloved. 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 upon the hope set before us, which hope we have as an
anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, in which entereth
into that within the veil. Whither the forerunner is for
us entered, even Jesus made an high priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. Oh my, look at that. Which hope
we have is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. The
reason it's sure and steadfast is because the one who keeps
us, the one who our salvation is in, it never ever changes. Never changes. Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee for the time that we've had in the scriptures today.
We pray that You'd be glorified and magnified. through the preaching
of your word. We pray that we who are the saints
of God and take the truths that we've learned today and carry
them with us this week, that we would meditate upon them and
think upon them and just be filled with joy and awe at the fact
that you never change, therefore our salvation in thee never changes.
What a great Savior, what a great Redeemer you are, Jesus Christ
our Lord. We love you because you first
loved us. In Jesus' name, amen.