I trust with the Lord's help
and with his blessing we shall consider this evening words found
in Malachi chapter 3 verse 6. last week of course we're in
the last book of the new testament this evening we're in the last
book of the old testament the scripture i bring before you
is found in matthew it is in malachi chapter 3 verse 6 for
i am the lord i change not therefore ye sons of jacob are not consumed
For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Malachi is the last of the Old
Testament prophets. He preached or prophesied some
400 years before John the Baptist. He actually prophesied of John
the Baptist, of course, here at the beginning of chapter 3. Behold, I will send my messenger
and he shall prepare the way before me. This is a reference
to John the Baptist. And at the end of chapter 4,
verses 4 and 5, remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which
I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes
and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah
the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord. Here again is another reference
to John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah.
And of course, as with all the Old Testament prophets, Malachi
prophesied of the coming of Christ. And the Lord, whom ye seek, shall
suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant
whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith
the Lord of hosts. And in chapter 4 we read, But
unto you that fear my name shall the Son of righteousness arise
with healing in his wings. While the Lord did come, he did
suddenly come to his temple, as recorded in the four Gospels. Now from the words of our text
this evening, I would consider with you, as I say, dependent
upon the Lord of His help and blessing, and for His blessing,
one of the attributes of God, that of His immutability or unchangeableness. And we shall consider the warning
that there is in these words. and in this doctrine, to the
wicked, and the comfort and the consolation that there is in
these words, to God's elect, the sons of Jacob. For I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. And we note firstly
that it is the Lord God only who is immutable. Only the Creator
is unchangeable. All his creatures are mutable. All his creatures are changeable. and see the testimony which the
Holy Scriptures bear to the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus
Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. And so it is written here, for
I am the Lord, I change not. Christ is no creature, He is
Jehovah, the Lord, the same yesterday and today and forever. The creatures are changeable,
but not the Creator. For I am the Lord, I change not. The heavens and the earth which
the Lord God has made are changeable. Think of the heavens, how changeable
they are. One day they are dark with clouds,
the next bright with sunshine. Sometimes one moment they can
be dull and overcast and the next moment the sun is out again.
Think of the earth and how the face of the earth changes with
the different seasons. It is evident that the heavens
and the earth are mutable. Indeed they have already undergone
one tremendous change in the days of Noah. For this they willingly
are ignorant of. that by the word of God the heavens
were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water,
whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water,
perished." The word overflowed there in 2 Peter 3.5 is katakludzo,
from which we get our word kataklysm. Cataclysm. The worldwide flood
of Noah's day was a great cataclysmic event in the history of this
planet, in which there was a tremendous change in the heavens and in
the earth. Incidentally, the fossils are
a powerful evidence of the universal flood, and they are a major embarrassment
to the Darwinists. The fossil record affords no
evidence whatsoever of evolution. And in fact, it contradicts it. It contradicts the evolutionists'
narrative. So much so that they've invented
a new theory to try and explain why there is no evolution to
be seen in the fossil record. They say, oh, evolution comes
in spurts. And they call it punctuated equilibrium. It's an invention of their own
heads. There is no evidence for it, none whatsoever. Beware of
science, falsely so-called. So the natural world has already
undergone one stupendous change in and by the great flood of
Noah's day. And there is to be another great
change, which is foretold in the scripture of truth, not a
destruction by water, but a destruction of the world by fire. Peter goes
on to say, there in his second epistle, but the heavens and
the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store,
reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. And he says that the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up so we see from the holy scriptures
and we see from the evidence of our own eyes that the heavens
and the earth are mutable they're changeable in psalm 102 The psalmist
sets the changeability of the creation over against the immutability
of the creator. Psalm 102 verse 25, Of old hast
thou laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are
the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt
endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old
like a garment, and as a vesture shall thou change them and they
shall be changed but thou art the same and thy years shall
have no end the sun has its variableness
and its shadow of turning but God is the father of lights with
whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning And just as
the heavens and the earth are changeable, so too are the inhabitants
of the earth and of the heavens changeable. Angels are mutable. And this is evident in that there
were those of them which kept not their first estate. They
fell. Jude tells us, "...and the angels
which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation,
He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the
judgment of the great day." There is no redemption for the fallen
angels. God passed over the angels. Not one of those that fell are
saved. Not one of them. They changed both their state
of sinless perfection and their place in heaven. Man too is mutable,
and this is evident in his fall from original righteousness into
an estate of sin and misery. In the beginning, God made man
upright. He was made in the image of God. He was made without sin. But although he was made without
sin, he was not immutable. He was not impeccable. And when
tempted, he fell. Now if man in his original state
of perfection was mutable, how much more so now is man in his
fallen condition? The learned Dr. Gill says, and
although he had dominion over the creatures being in honour,
he abode not long, but became like those he had the power over,
and though placed in the most delightful and fruitful spot
in all the globe, yet rebelling against his maker and benefactor
was driven out from thence by him, and is now a creature subject
to innumerable changes in life. Diseases of various sorts seize
his body and change his beauty and his strength, and death at
last turns him to corruption and dust. He is like the changeable
grass of the field, flourishes for a while, then is cut down
and withers away. An excellent description of man
in his state of sin and misery, his fallen condition. There is
that change that is common to all men because of the entrance
of sin. Wherefore, as by one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. Oh, what a change has the entrance
of sin brought! What a change will death bring,
which is the wages of sin! swift to its close, ebbs out
life's little day. Earth's joys grow dim, its glories
pass away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O thou who changes not, abide
with me. The Lord's people are subject
to various changes, both inwardly and outwardly, in both temporal
and in spiritual things. We have the example of Job, don't
we? Who experienced a great change
in his temporal affairs. Changes and war are against me,
he said. He lost his family, he lost his
health, he lost his friends. How mutable he was! And how mutable
are we in temporal things. We have the example of the Apostle
Peter, who experienced great changes in spiritual things.
What faith we see in Peter, don't we, when he sees Jesus walking
on the sea? And Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he
said, come. And when Peter was come down
out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. Oh, what faith we see in this
man! Ah, but then in the very next verse we read, And when
he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, And beginning to
sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me! Oh, one minute believing,
the next minute doubting! So it is often, even with a true
believer, one minute believing, the next minute doubting. We
can think, of the occasion when the Lord put the question to
his disciples, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Oh, what
faith we see in Peter! And that faith, the gift of God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
have not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Ah, but then, in the very next paragraph, we see
again the rising of unbelief. From that time forth began Jesus
to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
scribes and be killed and be raised again the third day. Then
Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee,
Lord, this shall not be unto thee. And see how the Lord rebukes him
in the next verse. But he turned and said unto Peter,
Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offence unto me.
For thou savest not the things that be of God, but those that
be of men. Oh, Peter is so changeable, one
minute believing, the next minute unbelieving. Remember his vehement protestation
when he said to Jesus, though all men should be offended because
of thee, yet will I never be offended. How bold he was, how courageous. Though I should die with thee,
yet will I not deny thee. Really, Peter? We know that he went on to deny
the Lord three times. His courage turned to cowardice. Oh, how changeable he was, and
how changeable are we. Where is the blessedness I knew
when first I saw the Lord? Where is the soul-refreshing
view of Jesus and his word? What peaceful hours I then enjoyed,
how sweet their memory still, but now I find an aching void
the world can never fill. Oh, there is great doctrine,
sound doctrine in our hymn book. I think Gatsby's hymn book is
the best hymn book in Christendom. Certainly the best hymn book
in this country. There's good sound doctrine in
it, but you know there is very real Christian experience too.
Another hymn by Bedoym says, our outward walk and inward frame
scares through a single hour the same. We vow and straight
our vows forget, and then those very vows repeat. We sin forsake
to sin return, are hot, are cold, now freeze, now burn, in deep
distress, then raptures fill, we soar to heaven, then sink
to hell. Joseph Hart says in one of his
hymns, if today we be sincere and can both watch and pray watchfulness
perhaps and prayer tomorrow may decay if we now believe a right
faithfulness is God's alone we are feeble fickle light to changes
ever prone how true that is This is true
to the believer's experience. And that's what I like about
the hymns in Gatsby's selection. They're true to the believer's
experience. We're very much creatures subject to change, both inwardly
and outwardly. God alone is free from any change. He only is immutable, for I am
the Lord, I change not. Let us go on to consider the
immutability of God then, his unchangeable And in what it consists,
God is unchangeable in his very being. The 1689 Baptist Confession
of Faith says, The Lord our God is but one only living and true
God, whose substance is in and of himself, infinite in being
and perfection. Perfection. Yes, God is infinite
in perfection. Jesus taught his disciples, you
remember, in the Sermon on the Mount, Be ye therefore perfect,
even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. The Lord our God, then, being
infinitely perfect, cannot change. If he were to change, he must
become either better or worse. If he were to become better,
he could not be perfect. If he were to become worse, he
would cease to be perfect. He is most perfect. Indeed, He
is infinitely perfect, and therefore free from any change. He is free
from change in time and space. He is free from change in time,
for He is eternal. He is the I Am. He is no older now than He was at
the beginning of the creation, or indeed before. and he will
be no older in the ages to come. He is from everlasting to everlasting. As Moses says in Psalm 90, before
the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou
art God. Dr. Gill says his eternity is
an everlasting and unchangeable now. Yes, he is free from change in
time and he's free from change in space. He cannot change from
one place to another. Why? Because he is omnipresent. He is in all places at all times. He cannot change from one place
to another because of his omnipresence. Am I a God at hand, saith the
Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret
places that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill
heaven and earth, saith the Lord? The Lord changes not in space
or in time. He is unchangeable in His very
being, and He is unchangeable not only in his being, but of
course following on from that, he's unchangeable in his nature,
that is, in his attributes. His knowledge is unchangeable,
for he knows all things. He is omniscient, great is our
Lord, and of great power. His understanding is infinite. His wisdom and his power are
unchangeable. Counsel is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength. He says in the
Proverbs. And so we could go on to speak
of his goodness, his faithfulness, his holiness, his patience, his
sovereignty and dominion. to quote the learned doctor once
again, and so he is unchangeably good and unchangeably happy and
immutable in every perfection. God is unchangeable in his purposes
and decrees. All that ever comes to pass in
this world has been foreordained or predetermined by the Lord
God according to his own decree and that from eternity. Again to quote the 1689 Baptist
Confession of Faith, God hath decreed in himself from all eternity
by his most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely and unchangeably
all things whatsoever comes to pass. The scripture speaks of
the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will. This most wise and holy counsel
is eternal and unchangeable. What God has determined and purposed
he will always infallibly perform. There is nothing that can thwart
his purpose, nothing. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever. The thoughts of his heart to
all generations Hear what Isaiah says, the Lord of hosts hath
sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to
pass, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand. Then again,
there in Isaiah, remember the former things of old, for I am
God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times
the things that are not yet done. saying my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure. The Lord our God is unchangeable
in his purposes and decrees and God is unchangeable when his
love to his people John twice in his first epistle says, under
the inspiration of the Spirit of God, that God is love. God is love. As the Lord God is immutable,
unchangeable in his being, also his love must therefore be unchangeable,
for he is love. And so Jeremiah says, doesn't
he, the Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, yea, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. That's an unchangeable
love. The prophet Zephaniah declares
to the church, the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.
He will save. He will rejoice over thee with
joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing.
All His love is from everlasting and He rests in that love. His
love does not change. The elect of God were loved from
before the foundation of the world. It didn't change when
man fell into sin. Sin does not negate the love
of God to His people. He saw me ruined in the fall,
yet loves me notwithstanding all. It doesn't change when they
repent of their sins and turn to Christ and become Christians.
God's love towards them does not commence when they become
Christians. It's previous to that. Eternally previous to that. God's love towards them didn't
change when Jesus died for them on the cross to make an atonement
for their sins. It was previous to that. but
God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners Christ died for us. Here is the manifestation of
the eternal and unchangeable love of God towards us. As John
says, In this was manifested the love
of God toward us, because that God sent that we might live through him,
hearing his love, not that we loved God, but that he loved
us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. And God is unchangeable in his
covenant of grace. Mutable man often breaks his
promises, covenants and agreements. not so the eternally immutable
God for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed but
my kindness shall not depart from thee neither shall the covenant
of my peace be removed saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee
there are no ifs and buts in this covenant it's an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things and sure The terms of the covenant
do not read, I will be your God if you will be my people, no.
But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel. After those days, saith the Lord,
I will put my law in their inward parts and write it in their hearts
and will be their God and they shall be my people. See how the covenant is expressed
in the shalls and wills of Jehovah. I will and they shall. It is an everlasting and unchangeable
covenant. And I love that hymn by John
Kent, number 766 in Gatsby's. One of my favourite hymns, I
have to say. What from Christ that soul can sever, bound by
everlasting bands? Once in Him, in Him forever,
thus the eternal covenant stands. None shall pluck thee from the
strength of Israel's hands. The Puritan Stephen Charnock
says, therefore believers have two immutable pillars for their
support, stronger than those erected by Solomon at the porch
of the temple called Jachin and Boaz, to note the firmness of
that building dedicated to God. These are election or the standing
counsel of God and the covenant of grace. He will not revoke
the covenant. and blot the names of his elect
out of the Book of Life. Thus the Eternal Covenant stands. Thus the Eternal Covenant stands.
All who are given to Christ by the Father in that Eternal Covenant
shall come to Christ. And him that cometh to him he
will in no wise cast out. In the words of our text, of
course, it is the covenant name of Jehovah which is used. For
I am the Lord. For I am Jehovah. I change not. Therefore ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. Well, let us consider thirdly
the use of this doctrine. Surely there is in these words
a warning to the wicked and to the impenitent. God is holy,
and he will ever be holy. He is the rock, his work is perfect,
for all his ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is he. John says, this then is the message
which we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is
light and in him is no darkness at all. There can be no lowering
of his standards. God is holy and he will ever
be holy and sin will ever be an offence against God. There
can be no change in God And so the change must be in man. There
can be no change in God and therefore the change must be in me and
in you. Man must be reconciled to God,
not God to man. There must be repentance or there
will be judgment. For God shall wound the head
of his enemies and the hairy scalp of such a one as goeth
on still in his trespasses. Isn't that what we read of here
in Malachi chapter 3? And I will come near to you in
judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers,
and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against
those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and
the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right.
And fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts, for I am the Lord,
I change not. There is a warning here to the
wicked and to the impenitent, to those who go on still in their
trespasses. For I am the Lord, I change not. But we thank God for His matchless
grace. As it is stated in our articles
of faith, we believe that the grace of God produces a real
change in a man yes that change is needed and
the grace of God produces that change and so we see also in
these words that there is real comfort and encouragement to
the Lord's people for I am the Lord I change not therefore ye
sons of Jacob are not consumed There is an encouragement here
to faith. Indeed, the doctrine of the immutability of God is
a solid ground for faith. We may safely trust and depend
upon this God, for he is eternally and unchangeably the same. Trust
ye in the Lord forever. for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
strength, Isaiah says. Or as it is in the Margin, trust
ye in the Lord forever for in the Lord Jehovah is the rock
of ages. Oh what folly it is to put one's
trust in that which is changeable. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man it is better to trust in
the Lord than to put confidence in princes but who are these sons of Jacob?
who are these sons of Jacob? here in our text, well they are
the elect of God they are those whom God has loved from everlasting
as opposed to the sons of Esau, the reprobates We read in the
first chapter of this prophecy of Malachi, Was not Esau Jacob's
brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob and I hated
Esau. These are the spiritual sons
of Jacob. Like Jacob who wrestled all night
with the angel of God, they too have wrestled with God in the
night season of their souls when under conviction of sin and feeling
that just condemnation of the law in their consciences. Like Jacob they gave God no rest
until they knew that the curse had been removed and they obtained
the blessing, a saving interest in the blood and righteousness
of Jesus Christ. that blessing of eternal life
through our Lord Jesus Christ. There are those who strive to
enter in at the straight gate. They agonize as the Greek word
is there, to enter in. They are the violent who take
the kingdom of heaven by force. By the sovereign grace of God
they are quickened by the Holy Ghost and by faith they see those
things which are eternal. They are made willing in the
day of Christ power to forsake all and follow Him. They would
gladly sell all that they might have that one pearl of great
price. By God's grace they will fight
the good fight of faith and lay hold on eternal life. They run
with patience the race that is set before them, looking unto
Jesus, the author and the finisher of their faith. Oh, they know
much opposition, much opposition from the world and from the flesh
and from the devil. Many times they stumble and fall.
But as the psalmist says, though he fall, He shall not be utterly
cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand. The final
perseverance of the saints, the preservation of the sons of Jacob,
the keeping of the elect sheep of Christ and their eternal salvation
is absolutely assured because of the immutability of their
God. For I am the Lord, I change not, therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. The eternal happiness of all
the elect of God, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely
secure because of the immutability of our covenant-keeping God.
You see, the happiness of God's people comes from God himself. He is the source of their happiness. He is the father of their happiness. And indeed, he himself is their
happiness. And so, because God cannot change,
neither can their happiness. For this God is our God forever
and ever. Now let me ask you, what does
your happiness consist? Is it in the things of this world?
In the things of time and sense? In transitory things? Or is it
in the things which are not seen? The things which are eternal?
Where do you look for happiness? In the things that are changeable?
Or in an unchangeable God? Those who seek for happiness
merely in temporal things will find their happiness to be changeable
and will ultimately prove to be but short-lived. But if our
happiness is in God, and in the things of God, or in the things of the Spirit
of God, in Christ himself. If with the psalmist we can say,
Thou art my portion, O Lord, Thou art my portion, then our
happiness will endure forever. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, that's a living hope, by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved
in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. All there is in heaven reserved
for the people of God, the spiritual sons of Jacob, an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away. It is an
eternal inheritance. Well may the Lord then, the God
of all grace, bring us by his grace to the enjoyment of that
eternal inheritance through Jesus Christ our Lord. And may our
hearts be fixed, trusting in an immutable, unchanging, and
unchangeable God. For I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob, are not consumed. Amen.