Alright, if you'll take your
Bibles and turn with me to Malachi. Malachi. The last chapter, last
book of the Old Testament before you get to Matthew. Malachi.
And my text will be found in Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6. The Scripture says, for I am
the Lord. I change not, therefore you sons
of Jacob are not consumed. The title of my message this
morning is Our Comfort in an Unchangeable God. Our comfort
in an unchangeable God. God says, I am the Lord, I change
not. And the result of that is what?
Therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Before we get
into that, I wanted to bring us through the scriptures of
this book in chapter 1 and chapter 2 as to where this comes from. Now in this small book of Malachi,
we have the prophet of God showing Israel what they had been lacking
in the worship and service of God. Israel had been neglecting
to glorify God. They had been neglecting and
failed to honor God in this way. in the offerings and sacrifices
of the temple. They neglected to honor God by
lacking in the offerings and worship of God. Now, God had
blessed this nation above all other nations, and God in mercy
had chosen this nation. And He did this for a very specific
purpose. that the nation of Israel should
be a type, a picture of all His elect people. The nation of Israel
should be a type of His church. And so then we see, go back to
chapter 1, we see then that God loved this nation. because of
his love for Jacob. That's how you could tell God
loved this nation because it loved Jake. He loved Jacob and
he hated Edom. He hated Esau. Look at chapter
1 and verse 2. God says, I loved you. I loved
you, saith the Lord, yet you say wherein hast thou loved us?
Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord, yet I loved Jacob
and I hated Esau. and laid his mountains and his
heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness." In this passage
we see that Jacob is a type of God's elect. That the salvation of Jacob was
of the election of God and Esau is a type of those passed by
God for salvation. Now how do we know this? Well,
God is sovereign in salvation. That's what this scripture is
declaring to us. That God is sovereign in salvation.
That His mercy is just that. It's His mercy. It's His mercy. And He will have mercy on whom
He will, and whom He will, He hardeneth. Now, how can I say
that? How can I say that this passage
is a picture of election? Well, go to Romans, chapter 9.
Paul uses this passage in Romans, chapter 9, in verses 1 through
2. Verse 9, the apostle is talking
about the distinction between national Israel and spiritual
Israel. That national Israel is a type
of spiritual Israel, and then he says this as an example. He says in verse 10, Not only
this, but when Rebekah had conceived by one, even our father Isaac.
For the children not yet being born, neither having done good
or evil, Jacob and Esau not having been born. Yet God says that
this was the purpose of God according to election. That according to
election might stand, might be declared. Not of works, but of
him that calleth. He said to her, The elder shall
serve the younger. Now listen, as it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. That's in Malachi. He is quoting this scripture
to show us that salvation is according to the election of
grace. The election of grace and not
of works. That's what those two children
being born were for. To show forth God's sovereignty
in election. In saving whom He will. What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. He said to Moses, I will have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then, it is not of him that
willeth or him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. You see, God is not dependent
upon the will of man to save His people. But His salvation
rests upon whom He will give it. And whom He will, He hardeneth. Therefore, He hath mercy on whom
He will have mercy, and whom He will, He hardeneth. Verse
18. Now this morning, if you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
today, it is because of His mercy. It's because of His grace and
not your works that you are saved, but because God loved you. And
you say, wherein hath God loved us? Had He not loved Jacob, has
He not chosen Israel, His people? Has He not chosen you? Is that
not a sign of His love for you? He chose Jacob according to his
sovereign purpose and election. Therefore, He called him. That's how we know of our election. It is of Him that calleth. Election is proven and shown
forth in calling. We know our election because
of Him that calleth, not of works. but of grace. Now, some today
would make faith a work. Most religions today make faith
a work. As though faith is something
you must exercise, that you have within you, that you can somehow
make God, or by your will, bring yourself to believe on God. No! Faith, according to the Scriptures,
is a gift of God. A person must believe, yes, but
he cannot believe unless God give him the grace of faith.
in the person and work of Jesus Christ, and that's by the effectual
calling of the Holy Spirit. And the election of Jacob was
of God, and the evidence of His election was that God called
Him and quickened Him to life and faith in Christ. Even so
it is with us. Even so it is with us. Now these people, Israel,
in our text, they were not honoring God according to His commandments
He had given them concerning the sacrifices and offerings.
The law, the law required of the nation of Israel to offer
a minimum of two sacrifices every single day. Not including the
feasts and all of the other sacrifices, but there was something about
these sacrifices that must, that was required of God before they
offered it. And it was this, that they be
blameless, they be perfect, spotless, that they be the best The best,
I'll read you this, in Deuteronomy chapter 17 it says, Thou shalt
not sacrifice unto the Lord thy God any bullock or sheep wherein
is a blemish or an ill-favoredness, for that is an abomination unto
the Lord. Now these people were offering
these lambs and bullocks that were sick. that were maimed and
spotted, they were offering it to God, that which was left over. Look at this in Malachi chapter
1 and verse 7. He said, You offer polluted bread
upon mine altar. And you say, Wherein have we
polluted thee? In that you say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if you offer the blind for
sacrifice, is it not evil? If you offer the lame and sick,
is it not evil? Offer it now to thy governor.
Will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? Sayeth
the Lord of hosts." God was offended. God was offended
by these sacrifices because these sacrifices were intended to picture
His Son and His offering. These lambs could never take
away sin, no matter how perfect they were, no matter how many
they offered. But it was that these pictured
Christ that meant so much to God. And if they were offering
lame sacrifices, God said it's an abomination. You know, the
apostle Peter said this, for as much as you know you were
not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold of
your vain conversation by tradition of your fathers. In other words,
not by the blood of those animals. You weren't redeemed by blood
of animals. No one was redeemed by the blood of these animals. But with the precious blood of
Christ, listen, as of a lamb without spot and without blemish,
which these offerings should have pictured. The Scripture says, "...neither
by the blood of bulls and goats and calves, but by His own blood
Jesus entered in once into the holy place and obtained eternal
redemption for us." You realize that how much blood has been
shed by those animals? How many sacrifices? Minimum
two a day for centuries they had offered these sacrifices.
And yet none of them took away sin. They were only intended,
like Israel was intended to picture His elect people, these sacrifices
were important in that they pictured Jesus Christ, His Son. They must have been without blemish,
because His offering was to come without spot, so that He should
redeem us from our sins. And you know this, He offered
Himself once to bear the sins of many. He offered Himself once. They offered those every day.
He offered Himself once. So behold, that Jesus Christ,
the spotless Lamb of God, that God provided for Himself, had
accomplished redemption for Israel. He accomplished for it all that
the Father gave Him. But these Israelites, they were
profaning this sacrifice of God's Son by offering worthless lambs. Look again at verse 12 of chapter
1. It says, "...but you have profaned
it, in that you say, The table of the Lord is polluted, and
the fruit thereof, even His meat, is contemptible. You also say,
Behold, what a weariness it is!" and you have snuffed at it, saith
the Lord of hosts, and you brought that which was torn and lame
and sick, and thus you brought an offering. Should I accept
this of your hand, saith the Lord?" Those sacrifices at that
time should have been a joy. They should have rejoiced in
those sacrifices that were intended to testify of Christ their Savior,
the One who was to come. They should have rejoiced. They
should have endured and not been weary in these sacrifices. They
should, by faith, have loved them and not snuffed at them. But the reason they did this
is because they had faith in that animal. They had faith in
their obedience to God in order to merit God's favor. This is why it became wearisome.
It's because they used these sacrifices not by faith looking
to Christ, but rather they used them as a means to attain God's
favor. This pictures to us all those
who are trying to earn God's favor. Trying to merit God's
favor. Listen, you will become weary
in trying to merit God's favor. You know why? Because you can't
do it. The things of God will become
wearisome to you and burdensome to you because there's no way
you can do enough. There's no way you can earn it.
Eventually you will snuff at the very gospel of God's grace. The only gospel that can save
you is something that men reject. Why? They're trying to earn this.
And making light of the true Lamb of God and counting His
blood as insufficient. Well, I don't believe, pastor,
that salvation comes by the blood of Christ. I think it's by the
blood of Christ plus what I've got to do. You know what that
means? You just said His blood's not enough. You just said the
blood of Christ is not sufficient to remove your sin, except you
do something else. Listen, you will become weary
in religion. Worse religion is tiresome. It's wearisome. If you ever count
the blood of Christ insufficient, you will become weary. And God said, look, you offer
that junk to your governor and see what he says. They were bringing
these lame, maimed sacrifices to God, and He said, you bring
that junk to your governor, to your ruler, and see what he does
to you. They wouldn't dare do that. He
said, why are you bringing it to me? God says, try to offer
that to your governor and see if he'll accept it. Yet these priests, they were
trying to offer polluted sacrifices, and they became weary in the
service of God. My friend, if you are offering
your works to God, your good character, I want you to be clear,
I'm clear as I can be, no matter how sincere you are, no matter
how earnest you may be, If you are trying to bring your works
to God, they will not be accepted. They are just as evil as those
blind and lame sacrifices. God says, your works are an abomination. Your works, your sacrifices will
never please God. Look at verse 10. Who is there
then among you that will shut the doors for nought? Neither
do kindle fire upon my altar for nought. I have no pleasure
in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering
at your hand. God's saying, I've got no pleasure
in your works. There's no pleasure in your offerings
and your sacrifices of religion to me. just as there was no pleasure
in these sacrifices, though they were ordained by the law. God
had no pleasure in the blood of bulls and goats to take away
sin, and He will have no pleasure in your works. They should have been looking
by faith to Christ, and all who would offer their own righteousness
must be shut out. He said, look, at that very first
part, who among you should have shut the doors and not kindled?
He's talking to these priests and said, why didn't you just
close the doors and put out the fire? If that's the garbage they
had brought to me, you should have shut them out. And so it
is with false free will works religion. It should be shut out. because it's not acceptable unto
God. Your works will not be enough. These under the law commanded
to offer lambs upon the altar for the sins, but all this pictured
Christ. And if these sacrifices were
done in faith, they should have been sweet. They should have
been accepted of God. But if they are done looking
to the animal for forgiveness, they were worthless. In time, God promised an end
to all these sacrifices, didn't He? In Daniel chapter 9, He says
this, "...in the midst of the week, after Messiah shall be
cut off, but not for Himself," He said, "...in the midst of
that week shall the sacrifice and oblation cease." And it did,
didn't it? There was there that transition
period from the time of Pentecost until 70 AD. There was a transition
week there. And God said at the end of that
week, He cut it off and there's no more sacrifices either. That
temple is no more. And it never will be. He did
away with that form of worship. Why? Because Christ had come.
The true offering for sin had come. Christ, the anti-type,
had come. I know that when my wife and
I were engaged, she had went back to Tennessee and all I had
was a picture. All I had was this picture. And
that picture, it meant something to me because it's all I had
to remind me of her. But I'll tell you this, when
she came, I had no more need of the picture. And that's what
it is with these sacrifices. They were for a time for a picture.
And what do they picture? They picture this, that Christ's
offering is the only thing sufficient. Christ's offering. Therefore,
what should you do? What is this teaching us? Teaching
us this. Cease from your works. Cease
from your works. Cease from snuffing at the offering
of God and believe on Jesus Christ. And all who believe on Him will
rejoice and endure, because they are the loved of God, chosen
of God. Now secondly, in chapter 2, now
the Lord begins to talk to these priests about their part in this
irreverent worship and not giving glory to His name. Look at chapter 2 and verse 1. He says,
Behold, I send my message... I'm sorry, chapter 2 and verse
1, And now, O priest, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear,
if you will not lay it to heart, to give glory to my name, sayeth
the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I
will curse your blessings. Yea, I will have cursed them
already, because you do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt
your seed and spread dung on your faces, even the dung of
your solemn feasts, and one shall take you away with it." They
were not glorifying God. By offering these sacrifices,
these priests were condoning this abomination of the people. They were not giving glory to
God. They were dishonoring God's glory by allowing these sacrifices.
You know what God's purpose is in everything He does? His glory. Everything God does
in time and eternity is for His own glory. You know what? When
Christ came into the world, His number one mission was? It was to glorify God. It was
to glorify God. Remember in His High Priestly
Prayer, He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son
that Thy Son may do what? Glorify Thee. As Thou hast given Him power
over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given Him. You see, it is only by Him glorifying
God that He could save us. The first thing is the glory
of God. And because He glorified God by finishing the work, offering
Himself as a sacrifice to God, because of His obedience, He
then is able to save us. And he was successful, wasn't
he? He was successful in his work when he died. Jesus died. And all those he died for will
come to him and not one of them will be lost. Why? Because Jesus
was not only the sacrifice, he was the high priest. He was not
only the offering, but He was the one that offered Himself
to God to glorify the name of God in His death. Now these priests
were not giving glory to God. And He would take those things
and make what seemed to be a blessing and make them curses. That's
what He said. He said, I will curse your blessings. I've cursed them already. He
said, Behold, I will corrupt your seed and spread dung on
your faces and dung of your solemn feast. These priests had marred
the glory of God by accepting these lame offerings, so also
false preachers. False preachers. What do false
preachers do but perpetuate this idea that man could earn God's
favor by lame sacrifices? These priests were picturing
those who were false prophets. Who would perpetuate a false
doctrine. And they look like blessing,
don't they? Look at the false church. Look how large, how beautiful
it is. How rich the false church is. It looks like a blessing. But
what God says, I will take what looks like a blessing and it's
a curse. It's a curse. Matter of fact, God says, I will
put dung on your faces. That's all it is. Men who seek to offer up sacrifices
that mix the work of Christ with their free will and works religion,
listen, God has smeared dung on that sacrifice. It is to smear
dung on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Paul said, if you be
circumcised, what? Christ shall profit you nothing.
Why? Because to mix your works with His is to put dung on the
sacrifice. It is to pollute the sacrifice
of Christ. You remember when Moses was commanded
to make an altar of earth. He said, don't put your hand
to the stones. Don't try to make them beautiful.
The minute you put your hand to it, you pollute the altar. That's what these men were doing,
and that's what works religion does. But if you're a true believer
in Christ, if you're saved by the offering of Jesus Christ's
blood and righteousness alone, who is our High Priest, who glorified
God, by His one offering, then are we not to follow Him in glorifying
God? Our Master, He honored God. And even so, as He honored God
and saved us and called us, shouldn't we not then follow in His steps
and glorify God? Paul said, don't you know you're
not your own? You've been bought with a price. And because you've
been bought with a price, because your high priest has offered
himself as a sacrifice, he said, ought you not to glorify God
in your body and spirit, which are God's? Yes, we are to glorify
Him. Therefore, whatsoever you eat
or drink, you believers, whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of
God. Why? Because that's what your
high priest did. Your high priest glorified God.
And because these priests lacked the honor, the law of God, and
the sacrifices of God, we are reminded God sent His great high
priest, not only to offer a sacrifice, but to cleanse the temple of
God. To cleanse it. Look at this in
chapter 3 now, in verse 1. He said this, because you've
marred My sacrifices, because you've accepted these ill-fated
works, listen to what He promises to do concerning His offering
and His high praise. He said, Behold, I will send
My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me. And the Lord
whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the
messenger of the covenant whom you delight. Behold, he shall
come, saith the Lord of hosts, But who shall abide the day of
his coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth? For he shall be
like a refiner's fire, and fuller's soap. He shall sit as a refiner
and purifier of silver. He shall purify the sons of Levi,
and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness." God here declares that He will
come to His temple suddenly. even the messenger of the covenant."
Who is that? That's Jesus Christ, the high
priest in the offering. He's going to come to His temple.
And He did, didn't He? He came suddenly. They didn't
even know who He was. And He came. But what was His
message? When He comes, He was the messenger
of the new covenant. That new covenant is described
in Jeremiah chapter 31. It says that, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, and I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and Judah, not according to that covenant that
I made with their fathers, when I took them out of the land of
Egypt, which my covenant they broke, although I was not husband
to them, saith the Lord. 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 I will be their God, and
they shall be my people." This is the message of Christ. Not
salvation after that old covenant, which they break. but a salvation
that is by a new covenant of grace, that God will perform
the work. God will do all the work. I will
put my law in there. I will give them a new heart.
I will take out that stony heart. I will forgive their unrighteousness
and their sins. This is all on God's part. It
is all God's work. That's the message of Christ.
He came to be the Savior by grace and not by works. This is the
message. God will provide Himself a Lamb.
Wasn't that the message that Abraham told his son Isaac? He
said, Father, here's the wood, here's the knife, here's the
justice of God. Where's the sacrifice? And he
said, God will provide Himself. Himself. And God did provide
Himself a Lamb. He was the Lamb. He provided
Himself an offering for sin. Therefore, by Jesus Christ, He
restored that covenant that God made with Levi. Look back in
chapter 2 and verse 5, there's a covenant here that God says,
this is the old covenant, He said, My covenant was with Him,
of life and peace. I gave to them, gave them to
Him, For the fear wherewith he feared Me, and was afraid before
Me." This is Levi he's talking about. But that covenant, what
did Levi do? He broke that covenant. So did
everyone in the Old Testament. They broke that covenant. But
what did Christ come to do? He came to restore. He came to
honor that old covenant. To magnify the law of God and
make it honorable. And he did this by his own obedience
and righteousness. And by his one offering for sin,
he purified the temple of God. He sat as that refiner's fire.
And when he came, wasn't he a fire? You can't read when he preached.
He got right to the root of the matter, didn't he? He didn't
beat around the bush. He got right to the point of
it. That man is so full of sin, he cannot save himself. Therefore,
that's why he had come. He came to give life. He came
to die in the stead of sinners so that sinners might be accepted
of God. That's the covenant message. Jesus came. offer the sacrifice
that was pictured in those old sacrifices that could never take
away sin. But when this man, this man,
after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, did what? He did something
those old priests couldn't do. He sat down. He finished. He
finished the work God gave him. He finished it forever. When
he said it was finished, listen, it was finished. The work was
done by His one offering. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Jesus came and purified His people,
didn't He? His temple. Didn't I what I just
said? You are the temple of the Lord. Isn't that exactly what
He did by His offering? He purified the people of God. He perfected them. Therefore,
all those that God chose. Now, who is that? That's Israel. All those God chose in salvation, He gave to Christ. And Christ,
being the perfect, spotless offering, and the perfect High Priest,
offered Himself to God. Therefore, all that were chosen
and redeemed will come to faith in Christ because His sacrifice
was perfect, because He sat down, meaning that all was finished
and all the sins of His people were paid for. And not the sins
of all the human race, but of His people. Look at chapter 3
and verse 4. Then shall the offering of Judah
and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord. as in the old days
of old, as in the former years. You see, by His one offering,
now all of the offerings and worship of God's people are accepted.
This morning, you believers in Christ, how divided is our hearts? How divided is our minds? How
often have we not fully engaged in praising God, even in this
small amount of time we've been together? How frail are we that
we cannot worship God as we should? But yet I want you to understand
this for your joy and your comfort, that even our feeble works are
accepted. Because they are seen in Christ.
Because He said, look, I have the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
is pleasant. Why? Because Christ offered it.
Because the righteousness that we have is not our own, it is
His righteousness given to us. And so if you're a believer in
Jesus Christ, if you indeed have the righteousness of Christ to
cover you, and the blood of Christ to cleanse you, Then I want you
to take this next statement because it is the most comfortable statement
for the people of God, for those of us who are saved by the grace
of God through the blood of Christ. This scripture, our text, should
give you the most comfort. Here it is. For I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob
are not consumed." Believer in Christ, take this
to heart, God does not change. I change not. He is the same
yesterday, today, and forever. He is eternally the same in His
character, in His will, in His purpose, and in all His attributes. He does not change. So then, if God from the foundation
of the world loved Jacob, and we just saw He did. I have loved
Jacob. Now what He said? I have loved mine elect. if God
had loved us and chosen us unto salvation, if God sent His Son
to be both the sacrifice for our sins and the high priest
by which that sacrifice is offered, if God in grace at the appointed
time of love came to us and in great mercy and power gave us
life and gave us faith in Christ, If God has revealed to you your
sin and the only remedy is Jesus Christ and gave you power to
receive Him, now if that is done, how then will He ever change
His mind or abandon you? And this fact of God is unchangeable
should comfort your hearts even in an ever-changing world. You remember Paul says this in
Romans chapter 8. He said, well, if God justified
us and Christ died for us, who shall separate us from the love
of God that's in Christ Jesus? Paul said this, I am persuaded
that neither death, you got that? If you die believer, will that
separate you from the love of God? Paul said no. Or life. What about life? Anything in life that was separate?
Paul said no. What about angels? Paul, what
if angels, if a legion of angels came down and tried to pull you
from the love of God, could that? No. He said that couldn't happen.
What about principalities or powers? What about if all of
the governments of the world tried to pull you away from the
love of God? What if all of Satan and his hosts set themselves
in array against you and seek to pull you from the love of
Christ? Paul said, no, I'm persuaded
that that won't pull me from the love of Christ. What about
things present, Paul, that are happening right now? Your situational
awareness. What about your situation? Will
that separate? No. Well, Paul, you don't know
what's coming. What about things to come? Can
that separate me? No. nor height, nor depth, nor any
other creature, in case I miss something. Paul said, just in
case I miss anything, nor any other creature shall be able
to separate you from the love. How can you be so sure? I can
be sure because God Himself justified me. I can be sure because Christ
paid the debt for all my sins. And I'm sure His love is the
same because of this. He cannot change. If He justified
me and redeemed me and loved me, He always has justified me,
redeemed me, and loved me. And He shall forever justify,
redeem me, and love me. He cannot change. Therefore,
He says, you sons of Jacob are never going to be consumed. Now
listen, in this life, everything is constantly changing. We are by nature children of
change and decay. We change from day to day. Our
circumstances change from moment to moment. We all experience
change because we are creatures of imperfection. Creatures of
sin. When God made this world, it
was changeless. It was perfect. There was nothing. But when Adam sinned, death came
in. and change. Adam changed, didn't
he? At the moment sin came in, he
changed. He died. And everything around
him changed. He had to now work by the sweat
of his brow. His wife would seek to dominate
the family and usurp his authority. One of his children would murder
the other. He knew change. He knew suffering. He knew death. And we all, like
our father Adam, we know pain. We know suffering. We know death. We know change. We know sickness. We know loss of loved ones. And
all of this was brought about by what? Sin. Sin. When we fell in Adam, our souls
died, and we were born dead. But yet there was always a hunger
for some kind of perfection. Not in righteousness, but in
this world. Isn't that what people are craving
right now? Homeostasis. They want everything to be equal,
balanced, and perfect. They want to be happy. They want
to be healthy. They want to be wealthy. They
want to not have to work. They want to ease of life. That's what men want. Now, how
do they try to get these things? Sin. The very thing that causes
change is the very thing they think will make them happy. That void that they have, they
try to fill. Isn't that crazy? Isn't that
insane? The very thing that brought this
ever-changing, constant sorrow and death into the world is the
very thing men cleave to for peace. But God's Word is plain. God
will not accept them. He refuses to hear those who try to earn God's favor.
Some try to fill this void with sin and riotous living. But when
we are given the gift of faith by God, we come to see that God
has loved us, sent His Son to pay the debt for our sins. And
in this verse, we find that God's love and sacrifice is changeless. My friend, are you a believer
in Christ? then I want you to know God has always loved you.
There's never been a time that God did not love you. There's
never been a time in eternity that God had not set His full
love toward you. There's never been a time that
you were not in Christ. There's never been a time that
His offering and His blood did not accomplish your redemption. The Lord hath appeared unto me
of old, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
And you say, Wherein has he loved me? Therefore with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. Have you been drawn? Have you
believed on Christ? Therein is the evidence of his
love and grace. He sent his Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. Let us then meditate on God's
love in that He loves us even as He loves His Son. Jesus said this, "...I have declared
unto them thy name, and will declare it, that the love wherewith
thou hast loved Me may be in them." and I in them. So no matter the circumstance
that befalls us, no matter the change that takes hold of us
in this life, this is a sure anchor for our soul that God
who cannot change has loved us. That God who cannot change has
sent His Son to be the mercy seat for our sins and God does
not change. I love this hymn. From whence
this fear and unbelief? Hath not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me? And will the righteous judge
of men condemn me for that debt of sin which Lord was charged
to thee? complete atonement thou hast
made, and to the utmost farthing paid, whate'er thy people owed,
payment God cannot twice demand, first at my bleeding surety's
hand, and then again at mine. And because God does not change,
when He set His mercy upon you, will He draw back? Let me ask
you this, can He draw back? In order for God to love you
one day and hate you the next, He would have to change. In order
for God to redeem you one day and not redeem you the next,
He would have to change. And God says, this is why you
won't be consumed, because I don't change. I love Jacob. I offered, you offered lame sacrifice. I offered the perfect sacrifice.
Your high priest, they accepted that garbage. My high priest
offered the only spotless sacrifice for you. To restore you. To save you. God said in Isaiah
chapter 49, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass. Whatever God purposed in eternity,
God said this, I said it, I'll do it. God said, I'll save you. Me? Me? He'll save me. I said it, didn't I? I'll do
it. He that hath begun a good work
in you shall perform it went to the end, unto the day that
Jesus Christ returns. I'll perform it. 1 Thessalonians
5, 24, Faithful is he that calleth you, he will also do it. The
work of thy goodness began, the arm of thy strength will complete.
His promise are yea and amen, and never was forfeited yet. Why? Because God does not change. Because God does not change,
His promises are sure. And God promised to give us strength
to make it through any trial that comes our way. Because even
the trials, the changing trials, are of the hand of the changeless
God. Remember Job? I was talking to
Cheryl about this this week. Who started that conversation?
God or Satan? You know it was God. He's the
one that instigated Satan so as to move against Job. Are you under great trial? Who
instigated that? Who brought that to pass? God
did. God did. Did He sustain Job? Yes. He will also sustain you. God has promised and He will
not leave us. He promised He would come again.
And listen, when we draw that last breath, we can be assured
of this. He does not change. Remember
when Stephen died? Stephen, he looked up and he
saw the Son of God standing on the right hand of the Father.
And listen, when we die, that's what we will see. Why? He doesn't change. What He did
for Stephen, He'll do for you. Why? Because we have the same
offering and the same I preached. And the same love of God. Therefore, let us who are in
Christ find comfort in an unchanging God in an ever-changing world. Friend, heaven awaits those who
believe in Jesus Christ as their only sacrifice for sin. And God
has told us that His sacrifice is the only one acceptable. And
if He accepts it, then we have peace with God and joy should
fill our hearts even though all around us should change, even
though all around us are corruptions. He says, John Gill said this, "...of which
saints have many troubles. As when God hides His face, when
corruptions prevail, when grace is low in exercise, when temptations
are strong, yet then Christ is still the refuge from the storm.
The salvation of His people is of Him, and He is their strength. and ever in a present time of
trouble. I'm going to read this to you
and I'll close in Psalm chapter 46. Read this with me. And keep in mind our never changing
God. Psalm 46, look at verse 1. God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help, in trouble. Now that's changeless. God is
changeless. He's your changeless refuge,
changeless strength, and changeless help. Therefore, what is the
response? I will, we will not fear, though
the earth be removed, though the mountains be carried in the
midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. That sounds
changing, doesn't it? That sounds like some change.
The world is collapsing. But here's our comfort, there
is a river, the streams whereof make glad the city of God, the
holy place of the tabernacle, the Most High. God is in the
midst of her. Listen to this, she shall not
be moved. God is her help. And that, right early. How early was God's help? Well,
it was so far early, there was nothing yet made. And God already
helped us. Putting us in Christ, loving
us. Then He helped us by sending His Son, His spotless Son, as
a sacrifice for our sins. God helped us when He redeemed
us, and He helped us when He called us and gave us a new heart
of faith. How then shall you ever think
that God would ever change His mind? Listen, the world is changing. But God doesn't. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
loved of the Father, are not consumed. That's my hope. That's my confidence. I pray that God would give you
such faith to believe and find rest in such an unchangeable
God. There's comfort there. There's
peace there. God give us the ability to rest
in Him