Alright, take your Bibles now
and turn with me to Malachi. Malachi chapter 3, and my text
will be found in verse 6. I've entitled this message, The Immutable
God. The Immutable God. Here God makes a declaration. This is no wavering statement,
but this is a statement of truth concerning Himself. He said,
ìFor I am the Lord. I change not.î And hereís the result of this,
ìTherefore, you sons of Jacob, When he uses Jacob, he's talking
about sinners. Jacob, where he means trickster,
that's what his name was. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
those sinners yet elect, are not consumed. Now, as we are
on the verge of a new year together, I've thought about this much,
and I am, I don't know about you, but I am filled with anxiety
and fear. you pay any attention at all
to what's going on around you, surely you share in these fears. Our nation seems to be on the
verge of collapse. Godless men rule over us. Morality
in this nation is seemingly gone. False religion, free will, works
religion is the norm. And those who profess under this
religion profess themselves to be Christians. Wars are raging all over the
world. Consider this, women are fighting
for the right to kill their children. Homosexuality is the norm. It's
not even a shameful thing. Adultery and fornication are
badges of honor and pride instead of shame. We live in an age where few people
have ever heard the gospel. Now listen, consider that. Consider
all the means that we have to communicate the gospel. We have
the internet, we have all of these, Facebook and sermon audio
and all of these things to distribute the gospel of Jesus Christ. And
yet in our day, few people have ever heard it. even fewer believe it. And among
those that profess to believe it have added the leaven of progressive
sanctification to it. They've added the doctrine that
claims salvation to be by grace, but somehow they sanctify themselves
by returning under the law again. It seems to be bleak. The year
coming seems to be bleak in view of the year past. But listen, our Lord told us,
He didn't say this, He didn't say evil seducers shall wax better
and better, did He? He said, evil seducers shall
wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. In other
words, it's not going to get better. That's what He told us.
It's just not going to get better. He told us that He will raise
up kingdoms and He will put down kingdoms. He told us men would
hate us, men would persecute us, abuse us, despitefully use
us. He told us that. He told us to
beware of wolves in sheep's clothing who would come in seeking the
preeminence in the church. Those who would mix works and
grace. He warned us, beware of dogs.
That's what He said. Beware of the concision. So as we look upon the troubles
of the old year, the anxiety of the present state and the
bleak outlook of our nation and people, We surely hope and earnestly
pray that the next year will be better than the previous.
Every year this is what we do, is it not? Every year we face
a new year, we desire it to what? Change. We long for it to change,
to be better. We pray for our nation. We pray
that the gospel of Jesus Christ will be preached in every place.
We pray that many sons would be brought in. Is that not our
desire? Do you not desire that many sons
should come in? That God would call many people
to himself? That is our prayer. We want it
to change. We want some change. We pray that men would cast off
false religion and embrace the true gospel of Jesus Christ,
salvation by grace. We long for that. And if God should call many sons,
we surely know this. If God should call many sons
to this nation, would it not be changed for the better? It
would. God would bless this nation.
If we had wise and godly men to rule over us, we would surely
live in peace. And we know that our God is able
to save sinners. Is that not right? You see that's
possible by looking at this one. It is possible. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came into the
world to save sinners. I know that's true. He is able. We know that God is able to cause
wars to cease, to thwart the plans of wicked men. He is surely
able to change the current state of our nation and people. But
I want you to know that what is happening now is not new. What is happening to us has happened
before. There are many nations and kingdoms
that were greater than this one that are gone. There are many kingdoms that
God didn't destroy completely, but he has made them of low estate. But whatever God will do in this
coming year, this is a sure truth, we long for change. We long for
change. We long for our present and future
state and circumstances to be better than they were before. This is why we make all kinds
of New Year's resolutions. This is why, isn't it? We see
a new year coming. We try to bury the past year
and see the birth of a new year as a blessing, and it is. It
is a blessing. And seeing we can't change the
world, what do we desire to do? Change ourselves. I talked with
a guy yesterday, and I was telling him about what I was going to
preach. He said, I don't pay much attention to what's going
on around me. I just want to worry about what's happening
in my little family. So a lot of people don't pay any attention
to what's happening outside. They're just focused on themselves,
OK? So we try to change ourselves.
We resolve to start or stop something to make ourselves better. We
determine to be better citizens. We determine to be healthier.
A lot of people, seeing their trouble, they determine to be
more religious, more zealous. And even we who are believers
in Christ, do you not desire to grow? You believe. Don't you desire to believe more?
You love, do you not desire to love more? Sure. We desire to grow in the grace
and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, no matter if
we keep our resolutions or fail, it does not matter if this nation
ceases to exist and fall on the ash heap of time. One thing is
certain, everything in this life is mutable. Now when I say mutable,
it's just changeable. Change. Change. Everything is changeable. This
mutability is because of one reason, sin. Why do you desire to be better?
Because you're not good enough. Isn't that right? You're not good enough. Why is
that? Because of sin. Sin is the root of all change. When sin entered into the world,
the curse came into this world. Cursed is the ground for your
sake. And so change, we want change
because we're never satisfied. Anybody satisfied? Godliness
with contentment is great gain. Not just contentment, but godliness
with contentment is great gain. But we're never satisfied because
we're never perfect. As man determines to turn over
a new leaf, he doesn't consider it the same leaf. Men desire to be more religious. Religious men determine to be
holy, not knowing that they're simply painting the tomb. They're whitewashing the tomb
and inside is full of what? Dead men's bones. That's what
our Lord told those Pharisees. You like to paint up the outside.
You make a lot of resolutions to do things and you make it
look good. But you didn't consider the inside. In this world we face all kinds
of changes. Some seem good, some may seem
evil. But God said this, there's a
time and a season for every purpose under heaven. There's a time and a season for
every purpose. Now whose purpose? Whose purpose? God's purpose. There's a time and a season for
every one of my purposes. So what is happening now is the
purpose of the immutable God. What is taking place right now
is the purpose of a changeless God. And so my desire this morning,
seeing the anxiety, now I've set out the anxiety for you,
I've showed you the problem, now I want you to be at peace.
Regardless of what takes place, I don't does not matter what
takes place. This is true no matter what. God does not change. It's hard for us who are only
always changing to get a hold of that. We don't know anything
by experience that's changeless. Yet God says, I do not change. And so I want you to, let's focus
this morning on the immutable God. Now, I've got two things
about God. There are many, every attribute
of God doesn't change. His justice, His holiness, His
righteousness, all of His attributes are changeless. I'm gonna focus
on two this morning. His love and His purpose. His love and His purpose. First
of all, we must know this, God says in our text, I am the Lord. Now consider that there is only
one God. There are not many gods. This
is why our opinion of God doesn't matter, because God is only one. If your opinion does not match
what God says about Himself, then your God is not God. God
says, I am the Lord. I am the only one. There is only
one. Look at Isaiah chapter 44. Isaiah 44 and verse six, thus
saith the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of
hosts. Hear what he says, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me there is no God. Got that? Who's God? Jehovah,
the Lord. The King of Israel, the Redeemer
of Israel says this, I am God, there is no God beside me. Go to Isaiah 45, look over on
the page there, look at verse 5. God says this, I am the Lord
and there is none else. There is no God beside me. He
keeps saying beside me as though God looked to the right and left
and said, look, there's no God over here. I'm it. I am God. I'm the first. I am eternal.
There was no time. There was no, I say time, you
have to use words that just don't make any sense in God's eternity. He said there was never a time
that God began to exist. I'm the first. And listen, He said, I girded
thee, though you did not know Me. Isn't that true of every
one of us? We born in this world didn't
know who God was at all. And what did He do? He girded us,
He took care of us. Now He's talking to Cyrus. Cyrus
was a man God determined to deliver His people. And He said, look,
this guy, he's not going to know Me. I'm going to use him to deliver
My people. Look, He said, this is the reason
I gird you, they may know, that my people may know from the rising
of the sun and from the west, what? There is none beside me.
I am the Lord, there is none else. Now consider this, there is only
one God, and this God is going to declare something about Himself,
that He is sovereign, that He is absolutely sovereign. Look what He said, I form the
light and create, what? darkness. I make peace and create what? Evil. I the Lord do all these things. So what's taking place right
now? Whatever God is purposing to do, that's what he's doing.
Whatever God has purpose to do is what he's doing right now. If it's good, I did it. If there's
evil in the city, I did it. I'd say something. I'm God. Who are you? Tell me what to
do with my own. I'm sovereign. Notice what he's
going to do, though. He says, drop down your heavens
from above and let the skies pour down righteousness. Let
the earth open up. Let them bring forth salvation. Let righteousness spring up together. There's one God, He says, I'm
going to bring salvation. He said, I'm going to bring salvation
to the earth. Let the drop down to heavens. What is He talking
about? He's talking about Christ coming. Where did Christ come from? The
heavens. Where did He come to? To the earth. And what did He
spring forth? Righteousness! And salvation
for His people. See, this is the purpose of an
immutable God. He said whatever is happening in time, I did it.
And I did it for this. That salvation should come to
who? To Zion. And spring up. I created it.
I made it. I made it. So this God who is, says there
is none beside me. This is the same one in our text
who said this. I change not. I change not. My purposes don't change. Your
purposes change. You got a purpose. You ever set
yourself to do something determined to do it and then fall to pieces? Well, that's because you're not
God. God says, I'm God. I change not. Now listen, any
God who can change his nature, his character, or his purpose
is not God. Mark it down, any God who can
change is not God. The God of this world, my friends,
is always changing. He's always evolving with the
culture. Have you noticed that? They look at this book and say,
well, that's out of date. You know, so we're going to change
it. And they do. They change because their God changes. Their
God changes with the times. The God of this age is one that
may love you and accept you based on what you do in time. In other
words, then His love would what? Change. Because what you do changes. You're good today? Well, I love
you today. You're bad tomorrow? I hate you.
See? It changed. That's the God of
this world. The God of this world may love
you based on what you do in time, but if you change your ways and
do good, He'll love you. If you don't, He will hate you. Therefore, the love of their
God is what? Mutable. Changes. But God says, I change
not. Now for the peace and comfort
of every believer in Christ in the midst of fear and trouble,
I want you to focus on these two attributes, his love and
his purpose. His immutable love and his immutable
purpose. First of all, his love. The love
of God does not change. I don't care what's going on
around you. I don't care if this nation crumbles to the dust.
I don't care if our world falls apart, if we become sick and
we die. The love of God does not change
based on our circumstances. This should be good news for
you. Since your circumstances are always changing, this is
something certain. The love of God does not change. Look at Jeremiah chapter 31.
Jeremiah 31 in verse 3. The Lord, remember, there's only
one. He's a sovereign in all things. He says, The Lord hath appeared
unto me old, saying, Yes. I always like, when I ask a question,
I always like the word yes. But I want you to know that there
was no question asked and God said yes before there was ever
a question. There's not a question here. God says, Yes. And this
is the yes. Yes, I have loved thee. With what kind of love? Everlasting. Out of any experience of everlasting
love. That sure thrills my heart. I
have loved thee, yes. Do you, do you, yes. How about
now, do you love, yes. Yes, always yes. Yes, I love
you. And my love is not changeable.
It doesn't change. It's an everlasting love. It's
an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Man by nature sees the love of God based on
his circumstances. Man wakes up in the morning,
the sun is shining, everything's well, he's healthy, he's happy,
his business prospers, and he says, God loves me. Next week, his clouds are stormy,
his dreams are dashed to the rocks, all of his hopes are gone,
he's sick, he's on his deathbed, and he says, man, does God love
me? Has God forsaken me? Why would we say such things?
Because we are basing God's love on our circumstance. That's what
we do by nature. See, neither of these things
are true. We can never determine the love or hatred of God based
on circumstances. Why? Because they're changing.
And since God's love and God's hatred does not change, it's
never based on circumstances. ever. Romans 9. Romans 9. God displays this to us in this
passage of Scripture. Romans 9. You know this very
well. 11 For the children, Jacob and
Esau, in the same womb of the same mother, seated by the same
father, the children not yet being born, neither having done
good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election,
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. He said
to her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. When did God love
Jacob and hate Esau? before they were born. And listen, God didn't wait till
they were seated till this happened. Remember, God is immutable. His
love is unchangeable. If God loved Jacob, He loved
Jacob from eternity. And if God hated Esau, He hated
Esau from eternity. Why? He's immutable. He doesn't change. God did not
hate Jacob and then love him because of something he did.
And listen, God did not love Esau and then hate him based
on what he did. This is unpalatable to the taste
of men. It just is. They don't like this. But if you look at it any other
way, God changes. God loved Jacob from eternity,
hated Esau from eternity. Both men were born of Isaac,
and both men were born dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore,
both men could never please God by their obedience. See, what
should surprise us is that God loved Jacob. It doesn't surprise me that God
hated Esau. Why? Because we were all born
in sin. That doesn't surprise us. Does it surprise you that
he cast out the angels in sin? Does that surprise you? No. Worthy. They were worthy of it. What
surprises me is that he would love Jacob. Neither one of them could earn
the love of God and all who are the objects of God's immutable
love and mercy are manifest by this. In other words, how do
I know that God has loved me from eternity? Because that's
important. What does it say in Jeremiah?
I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness,
what did I do for you? I have drawn you. This is the
manifestation of all Those that God loves. He draws them. He draws them. What does this mean? It means
they believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means.
Simply. Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? That's it. What did he say in John? John
chapter 1 and verse 12. As many as received him. I didn't
say accept him. That's not what it says. Received.
Very important. As many as received Him, to them
gave He the right to become the sons of God, which were born,
not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will
of man. Why were you born? Why were you receiving? Because
you were born of God. You were loved. You were loved. Therefore, you were born. And
because you were born, you received. Have you received Him? Do you this day believe on Christ
alone? As all your righteousness, all
of it, all your wisdom, all your righteousness, all your sanctification,
all your redemption, is He all? You, my friend, are loved. You are loved of God regardless
of your circumstances, regardless of your troubles, Regardless
of the trials of this life, God has loved you and God's love
does not change. I love my children. I do. But
if I'm going to be very honest with you, my love fluctuates.
It does. It fluctuates. Just ask me sometime
when my face is red and I'm upset. Do you love them? Well, yes. but not like I should. Other times my love is great.
I can feel it. My love is beautiful. It goes
up and down. I always love them. I will always love them. But
that love has a wide range in it. I want you to know this.
When God loves you, There is no fluctuation in His love and
it could get no higher and it goes no lower. I don't know how
high the love of God reaches. If we with ink the ocean fill
and were the skies of parchment made, to write the love of God
above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole though stretched from sky to sky. God's love's immutable. If He
loves you, He has loved you, He does love you, and He shall
forever love you. So if you look into the New Year,
you can always hold on that. You can always hold on that.
His love does not change, and you know what Paul said in Romans
8, what then can separate us from the love of God that's in
Christ Jesus? If God purposed to save me, make me like Christ.
Paul says that that's His purpose. We are called according to His
purpose. What was His purpose? To make you like His Son. Now
if God purposed, He loved you, therefore He purposed that you
should be like His Son and gave His Son. Scripture says God justified
you. Who then can make accusations
against you? Wait, if God who loved me justified
me, then who can accuse me? Yea, rather Christ had died. Who then can condemn me? If he
was condemned for my sins, because he loved me, he died for me,
and he was condemned for my sins, who then can condemn me for my
sins? And then the conclusion is this, then who's going to
separate me from that love? Since there's no sin, There's
no more sin between me and God. Who then is going to separate
me from the love of God that's in Christ Jesus? He said, I am
persuaded that neither height, nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, or any other
creature, in case I miss one, is able to separate me from the
love of God that's in Christ Jesus. So the answer to this is who
can separate me from this love? Nothing and no one. Well, I'm sick. What does that
have to do with it? I've sinned. What does that have
to do with it? People hate me. What does that
have to do with the love of God? Nothing. He loved you before
there was anything. and He'll always love you. Hold
it. Hold on to it. The second thing
is this, the purpose of God doesn't change. Another difference between
the God of this religious age and the true God is immutable
purpose. Now the God of this age has a
plan for your life. He has a plan, but He lacks the
power to perform what He desires to do. The God of this age desires to
save all men. He loves all men so much that
He sent His Son to die for their sins, but He still can't save
them. He still is powerless. The blood of His Son was not
enough. The will of their God is not sufficient. Why? Because it is totally dependent
upon the will or the works of the changeable creature. See, the purpose of their God
changes by the will or purpose of the mutable creature. Therefore,
their God is what? Mutable. His purpose is changeable. His purpose can be thwarted.
His purpose can be rejected. He's frustrated. So when a man dies in his sin,
it was because the purpose of his God was changed, altered,
or thwarted by the will of man. This is not true with the living
God. This is not true with the living God. Listen to me. Everything
that God purposes to do, He does. Everything. Everything He purposes. Go to Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55, look at verse 10. Scripture says, for as the rain
cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither,
but watereth the earth, maketh it to bring forth in bud, that
they may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. You know,
watch the weather, they try to predict rain. Right? They tell you you've got
a percentage of chance of rain this day. Who can stop it? You may predict it. You may be
able to see the patterns and maybe, a lot of times they fail
in that, but maybe you get it right. But who can stop it? Can
you stop the rain? Can you stop the snow? Listen to me, even so, look what
God says, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth.
Listen to what it's going to do. It shall not return to me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I please and it shall
prosper in the thing wherein I sent it. Behold, the immutable
decree and word of God shall accomplish everything and it
shall prosper in everything God sends it to do. Flip over a few pages back, go
to Isaiah 46. Isaiah 46, look at verse 10. God says, declaring the end,
first of all He says in verse 9, look at that, He tells you
again that there is only one God. Remember the former things of
old. I am God, there is none else. I am God, there is none
like me. What's the distinction? Here's the distinction. Declaring
the end when? When was the end declared? From
the beginning. From ancient times. The things
that were not yet done saying this, my counsel shall stand
and I will do all my pleasure. This is the word and purpose
of God, that everything he desires to do shall come to pass. And
then he gives a vivid illustration, two things, the
calling of Cyrus and the calling of Christ. This is his purpose. He reveals one, the calling of
Cyrus. He said, look, calling a ravenous
bird from the east, the man which executed my counsel from a far
country, I have spoken it, I will bring it to pass, I have purposed
it, I will also do it. You know how long before Cyrus
was born? When that statement was made, you know how many years?
150 years. God said that 150 years before
he called Cyrus. And yet it was just as sure as
though it were done. He called Cyrus to deliver his
nation, his people from bondage. Even so, look at this next thing,
which is the true of only Christ. Hearken unto me, you stout-hearted,
you that are far from righteousness. Listen, I bring near my righteousness
and it shall not be far off. My salvation it shall not tarry.
I will place salvation in Zion for Israel, my glory." You see,
God has purported His righteousness from afar. Where did His righteousness
come from? It came from far away. Christ
came from heaven, again, near to earth. He became a man so
as to do what? To bring near the righteousness
of God. to accomplish, this was the purpose
of the immutable God, that Christ should come and bring righteousness
and salvation. To who? For Israel. That's what he came to do. He
came to bring righteousness and salvation by Jesus Christ. Let me ask you, did his purpose
fail? I'll tell you, Israel all along
had been promised Christ should come. All throughout the Old
Testament they were promised, Christ is coming, Christ is coming,
Christ is coming. How often do you think they were
disappointed? I know that Daniel did especially. Daniel, when he found out that
vision, he says, you know, it was going to be 490 years before
Christ was going to come. And he was disheartened. He had
hoped Christ would come in his time. But listen, Did not all
of those things work together for that one purpose that Christ
should come? Did it happen? It did. Why? Because God's purpose is immutable.
Did Christ fulfill all righteousness? He told us to John the Baptist,
he said, it behooves us to fulfill all righteousness. That's what he came to do, is
not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. And he did. He accomplished
this and by His blood it was the purpose of God that by the
shedding of blood should be remission of sins. Therefore Jesus came
and shed His blood according to the purpose of the immutable
God. And by this blood He did perfect
all His people. We read that in Hebrews 10. Comparing him to those other
priests and those other offerings, the apostle says this, but this
man, after he'd offered one sacrifice, there's a difference, one sacrifice
for sin, forever sat down on the right hand of God, henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by his
one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. What was he doing on the cross?
What was he doing in this world? He was fulfilling the eternal,
immutable purpose of God, which was what? Our salvation. That's
what he was fulfilling. He was fulfilling our salvation.
It was the purpose of God. that all he had chosen and all
those that Christ had died for, then should effectually be called
by the spirit of God. Go to Jeremiah chapter 29. Listen to God's purpose, immutable
God's purpose. Verse 11. God says, for I know my thoughts. What does he mean by that? Not
his flighty thoughts like ours. Purpose. His thoughts are always
fulfilled. They're his purpose. I know my
purpose for you. I know my thoughts that I think
towards you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil. What is God's purpose for you?
Is it peace or evil? What does the immutable God say?
Peace. And not evil. That's my purpose. To give you an expected end. Don't you like an expected end,
something to expect? What should you that believe
on Jesus Christ expect? You should expect eternal life.
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
says the immutable God. What should you expect? When
you die, what should you expect? Eternal life. It's an expected
end. What about forgiveness of sins? I tell you this, sometimes I
go to God and wonder if He's ever going to forgive me. Know
what that is? Unbelief. We call it humility, but really,
is it? It's unbelief. We may expect God to forgive
our sins. Why? Because he said he would. If we confess our sins, he is
what? Faithful, immutable, faithful
and just to forgive us our sins. An expected end of holiness,
righteousness, redemption, wisdom. Why? Because this is what God
purposed for you. An expected end. And listen,
Christ fulfilled this, didn't He? Even before you experienced
it. When were your sins dealt with? Were they dealt with when
you believed? No. They were dealt with before
you believed. I like to see this, salvation
is something God does outside of us. We weren't there, except
that we were in Christ, that we were put into Christ, we were
in union with Christ, but really, we were not in existence at that
time. Salvation is something God does
outside of us. Kind of like, I like to think
of it like Joseph. Jacob had no clue what Joseph
was doing. All the while, Joseph was preparing
the salvation of Jacob. And then there was a time that
Joseph was to experience it. That's the same with us. Salvation
was prepared outside of us, but God purposed that this salvation
should also be applied to us. experienced by us. Look what
he says in verse 12. Then shall you call upon me. And you shall go and pray unto
me. And what does the immutable God
say when the sinner comes to Him? He says, I will listen to
you. I'm going to hear you. Now before
you call, I'm going to tell you you're going to call me. And
when you do call me, I'm going to listen. And you shall seek me. What's
the promise of you that seek him? You that seek me shall find
me. And when you shall search for
me with all your heart, behold his purpose, and I will be found
of you, saith the Lord. I will turn away your captivity,
I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places
where I have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you
again to the place wherein I caused you to be carried away, captive."
This is the immutable thoughts of God to give you a perfect
salvation. There is no guessing as to what
the end of every believer is. Eternal life, peace with God. You remember David on his deathbed?
David's house was a mess. I mean, you consider all the
things that happened to David because of his sin. The children
that he had lost. I mean, one of his sons killed
another son. The one that killed him, Absalom,
dethroned him and sought to kill him. He had to run and hide from
his own son. And what happened to that son?
God ended up killing that son, didn't he? David's house was in ruin, friends. It was a mess. And God said the
sword should not depart from his house, and it really didn't. After that, after Solomon, there
was nothing but division among the children of Israel. And yet
on his deathbed, what was his hope? The same hope you and I
have, that God's purpose is not moved. Listen to what he said,
2 Samuel 23 and verse 5, he says, Although my house be not so with
God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant Ordered
in all things and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my
desire, although he make it not to grow. Although I'm not going
to really see everything about this in this life. I know this. My hope is that the purpose of
God's covenant does not fail. That's my salvation. That's all
of it. It wasn't a combination of what David would do or could
do. He says, my hope is ordered in
all things and what? Sure. Mark well this immutable covenant
of the immutable triune God. Ephesians chapter one. Let's
read the purpose of God together. Just trying to make sure to hammer
this home. Ephesians chapter one. Listen
to the purpose of God. He said, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who had blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as he had
chosen us in him before the foundation of the world. Purpose, that we
should be holy without blame before him. Motivation, in love. There's that immutable love.
Having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself. According to what? Why? Can you explain why God would
choose to save you? No, it's not in you. According
to the good pleasure of His immutable will. To the praise of the glory
of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. You were made accepted in the
Beloved. When? From eternity. According to the
purpose of God, you were already accepted. But in time, look what
happens. In whom we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace, wherein he abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according
to good pleasure which he purposed in himself. How did he make known
this mystery? By the coming and dying of Jesus
Christ. That's how he made known this
mystery. by His immutable Word and by
Christ fulfilling that, that in the dispensation of the
fullness of times He might gather together one in one all things
in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth,
even in Him, in whom we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all
things after the counsel of His own will. And we should be to
the praise of this glory of his grace who first trusted in Christ.
He's talking again about the eternal purpose of God. And the fullness of time, this
is his purpose, they gather us all together in Christ. In whom we have obtained the
inheritance. When did you obtain the inheritance?
You obtained it when Christ obtained it. That, here's his purpose, we
should be to the praise of his glory. Who first trusted in Christ? Who first trusted in Christ?
God did. The Father trusted in Christ.
Now here's our experience. In whom you also trusted. After that you heard the word
of truth, the gospel of your salvation. in whom also after
you believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.
That sealing, that's important, that's vital. When a king would
seal a document, he would put his stamp on it, and it was not
to be opened. It was not to be opened except
by the person it was sent to. Listen, you are sealed until
the day of Jesus Christ, and when he comes, it'll all be opened. It'll all be revealed. Everything
He promised to give you will have in its fullness. But right
now you have an earnest down payment, which is what? The Spirit
of God. You have the Spirit of God, the
earnest, which is an earnest of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession under the praise of His glory. So then what may we ascertain
from this? All that God chose. All that Christ died for. Every
one of them shall be saved and none shall be lost. This gives
me great comfort to know this because it caused me anxious
thoughts about it. I say it now quite often. The church is always full. It
used to cause me anxious thoughts. We got empty seats. That's OK,
because the church is always full. Tell you the truth, I don't
want the world in here. I don't want I don't want them
to the wolves to creep in in sheep's clothing. Do you? I don't. Church is always full. Because everyone God purpose
to save, he will save. God says, because I, I change
not. This is the result. Go back to
your text one more time. Therefore, this is the result. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6. Look at this again. I am the
Lord. I'm the only one. I'm sovereign.
Everything happens according to my will. And this is the will. I'm going to save you. Now listen,
He said, I am the Lord. I change not. My love for you
does not change. I have loved you. I do love you.
I shall love you. This is how you know it, because
you believe on my Son. And you that believe on my Son
can trust in this. My purpose for you doesn't change.
I chose you according to my purpose. Everything that happens in time
is for this purpose that Christ should come and fulfill your
salvation. And then everything in your life
should come to flourish and to bring you to me. That's my purpose. My purpose is that and I don't
change my love for you and my purpose for you. And what's the
evidence of this? He said, therefore. Three in verse six. Therefore,
because I don't change, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. You sons of Jacob shall not be
consumed. Had God not purposed and ordered
all things for our salvation, surely we would be consumed.
If God could change, there would be no hope for us. If God's love
and purpose depended on us, there would be no hope for us. But because his love and his
purpose doesn't change, therefore, this is God who doesn't change.
His word is always sure. You shall not perish. And nothing can separate you
from me. How is it that God could say
such a thing, I will never leave you nor forsake you, when I would
leave me and forsake me in a heartbeat? God says, I won't ever leave
you. I won't ever forsake you. Why?
Because my love for you does not change and my purpose to
save you does not change. So now, as you see the bleak
future that we have before us, the seemingly bleak future of
the destruction of a nation, the immorality of a wicked people
surrounding us, false gospels seeming to prevail on every corner, you and I should never be discouraged
because our God does not change. And everything he is doing is
for your good. All things, says the changeless
God. All things. All things. He just keeps saying it. All
things. Work together for your good. To you that love God, to you
who are the called, according to whose purpose. I believe on
Christ. Was that accidental? Was your
salvation accidental? Or was it on purpose? I was on purpose. Just not mine. It was God's. And I'm thankful
for that. I can find rest no matter what
happens in that. I pray that God bless you.