to go with me to the last book
of the Old Testament, and that is the book of Malachi. And I'm
going to begin here in Malachi this evening, and we'll go to
several references as we have time enough. As you know, we've
been dealing with the physical, literal sons of Jacob. twelve sons and of course one
daughter. Well, this evening I want to
kind of switch gears and I want to speak to you about the sons
of Jacob, but not the literal sons of Jacob, but rather the
spiritual sons of Jacob. That's who I want to talk about
this evening. Because the Spirit of God has
led different writers of the Word of God to mention this seed
of Jacob. We read that a couple of times
there in Isaiah 45 and the sons of Jacob. As we're going to read
right here in this verse, I think I kind of need to apologize that
I don't have time to deal with this context here in Malachi
chapter 3. I'm just going to go ahead and
read one verse and that would be verse 6. The Lord says in
Malachi chapter 3 verse 6, For I am the Lord. We read that several times in
Isaiah chapter 45. And God speaks directly. He wants us to know who He is. He says, I am the Lord. I am
Jehovah. I am the ever-existent One. And then He gives this information
to us that is needed and very valuable information about God. I change not. There is no change in God. Scripture
says that He's the Father of lights in whom there is no variableness. and not even a shadow of turning
with God. James chapter 1 and verse 17
says that. Our God is unchanging and He
is unchangeable. He is immutable. And that's a
good word to learn. The Scriptures speak about the
immutability of the counsel of God. That is, the purpose of
God is immutable. It is unchangeable. Make sure
you understand what God says about Himself. It is absolutely
impossible for God to change. That which God was and all that
God was back before He ever made this world, He still is. And when this world dissolves,
when God burns it with the fire, when He renovates this earth
and the heavens as well, God will still be just exactly all
that He was before the world was made. And that which is true
of the Father is also true of the Son of God. So we read in
Hebrews 13, Jesus Christ, He's the same yesterday, and today
and forever. God is immutable. He doesn't
change His mind. He doesn't change His will. He doesn't change His purpose.
Nothing moves our God. God is immutable. He sits upon
His high and glorious throne above with ease and Nothing frustrates God. Nothing aggravates God. Nothing disturbs God. You need to understand that God
is ruling all things according to His sovereign will. And everything
is moving exactly as He has ordained it. And He isn't going to change. He said, I am the Lord. I am
Jehovah. I am the ever-existent One. I
change not. Everything else changes, but
not God. Satan led a rebellion against
the Lord. Lucifer, he changed. From an angel of light to an
angel of darkness. But that didn't change God. Sink into this world. Terrible
thing sin is. It came into this world. Adam
transgressed against God. Adam, he changed. But not God. That which Adam did, just like
what Lucifer did, did not move God one iota. Nations rise, nations fall. Kings, prime ministers, presidents
rule, and then God brings them down. All of these things in
history, things that change, they're always changing. But
He who has ordered history, He who governs all things, He still
sits in the ease of His own sovereign purpose. For all things are fulfilling
that which He ordained to do. The heavens and the earth shall
vanish away, but God doesn't change. I love that passage in
Hebrews. I mentioned Hebrews a little
bit ago. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 10, Thou
Lord, Thou Lord in the beginning has laid the foundation of the
earth, and the heavens are the works of Thy hands. They shall
perish, but Thou remainest. They shall all wax old as doth
the garment, And as a vesture thou shalt fold them up, and
they shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy
years shall not fail." Oh, how encouraging it is to know that
our God doesn't change. His purpose doesn't change. His
will doesn't change. His salvation doesn't change.
His love doesn't change. There are those who think that
somehow God hated His people because of our sinfulness, but
then when we believed on the Lord Jesus, then God's attitude
toward us, it changed. No, that's not true. You've got
to get that out of your minds. That's falsehood. He has loved
us. Hear the words of Jeremiah. You've
loved us with an everlasting love. There never was a time
when God hated us. There never was a time when God
said, I'm not going to have anything to do with you. Why, before He
made this old world, in Christ Jesus, in old eternity, He joined
us to His Son. And His attitude toward you,
who are His people, You who believe Him, His attitude toward you
will never change. He's been gracious to you from
the beginning. He will be gracious to you when
there is time no more. He loved you when you were unlovable. And He will love you forever.
He bought you. He bought you from the justice
of His own being by the bloody death of His Son. And that price
that He demanded, He got. And therefore, His attitude toward
you will never change. He's never mad at you. Now, God
chastens His people, but it's not in anger. It's not out of
the fact because He doesn't love us anymore. It's because He's
teaching us. And we always need the instruction. A new heaven and a new earth
will be made one day, but the God who will make them, He doesn't
change. The righteous shall enter into
the bliss of everlasting paradise. And the wicked shall be cast
into hell forever. And God will be unaffected and
unmoved. He is immutable. Never changes. We love to sing that song, Abide
With Me. And I started to sing that for
us to sing that this evening, but in a minute I'll show you
why I chose the one that I chose for us to sing. But we love,
abide with me, swift to its close, ebbs out life's little day, earth's
joys grow dim, and you know its glories pass away. And then the
hymn writer said, change and decay in all around I see. We see it in ourselves, don't
we? We see change and decay. In all around I see. O thou that
changes not, abide with me. Now look at the second part of
verse 6. The first part again, for I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Who are the sons of Jacob as
referenced in this passage of Scripture? Well, they're the
sons of Jacob or the seed of Jacob, those who are in Christ
Jesus, true believers. as our Lord Jesus said to Nathanael,
of Nathanael, he's an Israelite indeed. Indeed. Oh, he was a blood relation all
the way back to Israel, or Jacob, and all the way back to Abraham,
but he was an Israelite in a greater way. He was a spiritual Israelite. He was one of the true people
of God. You and me, who are the sons
of Jacob, we're the seed of Jacob. I ask you, what is the reason
why we haven't been consumed? Why haven't we been consumed? Are we still sinful? Well, sure
we are. Are we disobedient children?
Yes, we are. Do we fail to do things that
we ought to do? Guilty as charged. Well, if we're
mainly failures, and we're still sinful, and we're disobedient
too often, what is the reason that God leaves us here and He
doesn't cast us away? Here's the reason He doesn't
change. You see, look at the wording.
For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, this is the reason
that you're not consumed. There's only one reason why all
of you, and this preacher, and those who are watching this by
way of the internet, there's only one reason why we are not
consumed. It's because our God doesn't
change. He's faithful unto His covenant
of grace. He's faithful to remember the
blood redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's faithful to
always look on us in His Son, our Savior. God is faithful. God is faithful. He won't ever
change. It changes not. That's why God hasn't cast us
off. He abides by the covenant that
He made. The covenant He made within Himself
before the world began. Templified by the covenant He
made with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. A covenant that can't be broken.
A covenant that is changeless. Certainly we are still sinful. We remain ungodly and wicked. But the fact that we are not
consumed is testimony to the immutability
of our God. So let's consider the fact that
the saved sinners are the offspring of Jacob. We're the sons of Jacob. We're the seed of Jacob. Number
one, and I've got several things I want to give you, and we'll
go right through them. Turn back to Isaiah, and I'll go to Isaiah
chapter 41. Here's the first thing. Jacob
and all of his spiritual sons are worms. were worms. Well now, this is the reason
we sang that first song. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
Isaac Watts wrote, and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote
that sacred head for such a worm as I." Look here in Isaiah 41
and verse 14. God says to Jacob and all the spiritual
seed of Jacob, He says, fear not. It's amazing how many times,
by the way, in this chapter He says, fear not. Look at verse
10. Fear thou not, for I am with
you. Look at verse 13. For I, the Lord, will hold thy
right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help you. And
then verse 14. Fear not. Fear not. There are two things that are
quite obvious. We must be fearful, otherwise
the Lord wouldn't keep saying, fear not. For a people who say that they
believe sovereignty and divine providence and that God rules
in all things and He governs every single thing that happens,
we sure are fearful. It doesn't make sense, does it?
It doesn't make sense to be fearful when you know that our God, who
changes not, sits upon His throne and rules over all things. So
he says, fear not. Watch verse 14. Thou worm, Jacob,
and ye men of Israel, I will help thee, saith the Lord, and
thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He calls Jacob a worm, and he
calls the sons of Jacob worms. It's our natural loathsomeness and our helplessness. And if
you look up the word worm, indeed it could be translated as a maggot. Maggots feed on dead things. That's us. Even the people of God, we still
feed on the dead things of this world. Maggots are very repulsive little
things. And they're very helpless. You
could step on a maggot and you'll never feel a thing. Because it's
so helpless beneath your foot. but they're so repulsive. That's us. That's us. That's what we are. And yet the Lord, He doesn't
deny what we are, but He says to us worms, He says to us maggots,
don't be afraid. He will not step on you. He's not going to mash you out
of existence. He says, I'll help you. I will
help you. Because you're helpless yourself. He is our never failing Helper. Jacob and his sons of worms. But then let's move on. Secondly,
Jacob and his sons are the chosen of God. That's why we're not
gonna be consumed. Look here in chapter 41 again
in verse eight. But thou, Israel, and we'll study,
as we go back to Genesis, the Lord willing, next Wednesday
night, we'll be getting to that portion of Scripture where the
Lord gives Jacob a new name. Israel, thou hast prevailed with
God. You're a prince with God. But
thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen. the seed of Abraham, my friend. The reason you're not consumed,
though you are a worm. I'm not going to take it easy
on you. I'm not going to make it easy on me, though I'm a maggot
and though you're a worm too by nature. We're not going to
be forgotten by God. And we're not going to be judged
by Him. He has chosen us unto salvation. Look in verse 9. Thou whom I
have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the
chief men thereof, and said unto thee, Thou art my servant, I
have chosen thee, and not cast you away. There was every reason
in us by nature that God would cast us away, but He didn't cast
us away. Why not? He chose us to be His
own. We're chosen unto salvation.
It's what we read in 2 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. He chose us. That passage of Scripture in
Romans 9. When Rebekah also had conceived
by one even by her father Isaac, for the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that was set unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. God had made his choice of Jacob. Psalm 105 and verse 6, O ye seed
of Abraham, his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen. Psalm 135 and verse 4, For the
Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself, and Israel for his peculiar treasure. And for his own purpose, simply
because he would, he chose you unto salvation. You're a chosen
vessel. I love the doctrine of God's
choice of a people unto salvation. It's the very foundation of our
faith, of our hope. God chose us. And I get pretty
upset when I hear somebody running down the doctrine of God's free
and sovereign elect in grace. While you're attacking the very
foundation, the very origin of our salvation! Where did it all
start in the heart of God when He chose the people unto salvation? Not a random choice. Not, well,
I'll choose these over here and these over here I reject. No.
One by one, He chose in love, having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ unto Himself. You say,
Jim, I don't know why God chose me. I don't either. I can't help
you with that. Except to say, because He would. He willed to do it. That's the
only thing we can say, Ron. God willed to choose us. You
say, well, what was there in me to draw forth His love? Nothing. Nothing. We read in Isaiah 53, there's
no beauty in the Savior that we would desire Him. Listen,
there was no beauty in us that He would desire us. I fell in love with this lady
right over here many years ago because of all the qualities
I saw in her, the beauty. She had characteristics about
her and still has them that drew forth love out of me. But we didn't have any of those
characteristics as God viewed us. He chose us because He would.
Not for any good that He saw in us. In fact, that passage
in Romans 9 that I just read, before we'd done anything either
good or evil. God exercised His choice. And then look at Isaiah 43. Here's the third thing. Jacob
and his sons are a redeemed people. Chapter 43. And verse 1, "...but
now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He
that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee."
There it says, fear not again. And as you go through the book
of Isaiah, and for that matter, you go through the Word of God,
He's all the time telling us, fear not. The Lord knows us quite well. We're an open book to Him. And
He sees and He knows. He's acquainted with our fears.
And our fears are baseless. They're without any foundation
because of who our God is. I am the Lord. I change not. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid to live and don't
be afraid to die. He says, fear not. Why not? Because I have redeemed you. I have redeemed you. I bought
you. Not with corruptible things such
as silver and gold, but He bought us with the blood of His Son. Oh, that's a priceless redemption. Look at chapter 44. And verse
21. Isaiah 44, 21, Remember these,
O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed
thee. Thou art my servant, O Israel.
Thou shalt not be forgotten of me. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. Return unto
me, for I have redeemed thee. Which took place first, the effectual
call of grace or redemption? Redemption took place. Return
to Me. I've paid your debt. You're debt
free. Come to Me. Return to Me, He
says. No wonder we read in the next
verse, Isaiah says, Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done
it. The Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts of the
earth. Break forth into singing, ye
mountains, O forest, and every tree therein. For the Lord hath
redeemed Jacob and glorified Himself in Israel." This redemption
of His people, shout it out! The price is paid! Justice held
us for ransom and Jesus Christ died in our stead upon the cross. He has redeemed us. Shout it
out. Let the mountains shout it out.
Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Being redeemed, that means we're
purged from our sins. Isaiah 27 verse 9 says, The iniquity
of Jacob shall be purged. Who purged them? Our Lord Jesus. How did He purge them? By substitutionary
sacrifice. The Lord sees no sin in Jacob. He doesn't see any iniquity in
Israel. That's what Balaam concluded.
I referred to him this past Lord's Day. When Balak sought to hire
the services of that false prophet, Balaam said, I can't curse those
whom God has blessed. Numbers 23, 21. See, even a false
prophet can say some good things. And he said this, He hath not
beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath he seen perverseness in
Israel. The Lord his God is with him.
The child of the King is among them. He doesn't see iniquity
in Jacob. All of us sons and daughters
of Jacob. You who are watching, who believe,
who are in Christ Jesus. All of us. God sees no iniquity
in all of us. Utterly amazing. And it isn't that He pretends
that it isn't there. He sees us in His Son, the One who purged us of our
sin. And then, since we're a purchased people, then we'll go to the
next one. Jacob and his sons are called by omnipotent grace
to come to Christ. Again, back in 43, verse 1, The last statement of verse one,
chapter 43, verse one, he says, fear not for I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name. He knew your name. Well, he wrote it down in the
Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. He called
you by name. And He taught you to know His
name. Yes. Turn with me to the book of Micah. Go to one of the minor prophets
over here. Micah, look at chapter 2. Yes, we're called by omnipotent
grace to come to Christ. He called us by name. Micah 2 and verse 12. I will surely assemble, O Jacob,
all of thee. See, he's not talking about just
one man. God said, I'm going to assemble
all of Jacob. I'm going to call all of Jacob.
All the sons of Jacob, all the daughters of Jacob, all the seed
of Jacob, I will assemble them. I'll bring them together. That's
effectual grace. He says, I will surely gather
the remnant of Israel. Who's going to gather them? He
will. He says, I'll put them together
as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their foe. The shepherd's going to gather
them. The shepherd's going to call them. How does he call them? With his
voice. What is his voice? The gospel
of his grace. My sheep hear my voice. And I know them. I'm going to
call them by name. And here's what they're going
to do. They're going to perk up. And they'll follow me. And Christ
says, I'll give to them eternal life. And it said, look, the last this.
And they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of
men. I know at any given time the
flock of our Lord is very small. And I'll tell you, when we're
all together, as in Revelation 17 or chapter 7, and John says,
I saw a multitude which no man can number. We're all gathered
together. What a great noise we're going
to lift up to the Lord. We'll say salvation to our God
and unto the Lamb. and it'll ring throughout the
courts of heaven and throughout earth itself as we lift up our
voices together. And I got to go quickly. Isaiah
27 is the next one. Jacob and his sons will take
root and grow. Isaiah 27. Look at verse 6. He shall cause them that come
of Jacob to take root, rooted and grounded in the gospel. And
our roots will sink down deep, deeper and deeper as we come
to a greater understanding of and appreciation of who God is,
the wonders of His grace, and our own sinfulness will take
root. Israel shall blossom and bud,
and fill the face of the world with fruit. The Lord's going to cause His
church to flourish forever. You can't stop the work of God. Brother Scott Richardson told
me years ago there was some young preacher he invited to preach
for him. And the young preacher He kind of made an arrogant statement
to Scott. He said, well, I just want you
to know that if I preach for you, I might split your church.
Scott said, well, if you can split it, let her split. Let
her split. It's founded on something so
flimsy that you can split it. Give a shot at it. Our Lord's
church is going to flourish and grow, and she sinks her roots
deeper into our foundation. The foundation is Christ Jesus
Himself. And I'll tell you this, here's
the next thing. Go to Isaiah 65 and verse 9. Isaiah 65 and verse 9, Jacob
and his sons will have a glorious inheritance. How's that? 65 and verse 9. In fact, I'll back up and read verse
8. Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster,
and one saith, Destroy it not. For a blessing is in it, so will
I do for my servants' sake, that I may not destroy them. And I
will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor
of my mountains." That's Christ Jesus. "...and mine elect shall
inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there." We're heirs of
God in joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And I'll give you one
more. Skip over a little bit here because
the time is about gone. Jacob and his sons will be saved. Look at Jeremiah 46. I'll give
you two more references. The first one is Jeremiah 46.27.
Jeremiah 46.27. Jacob and his sons will be saved forever. Jeremiah 46.27. And here it is again. But fear
not thou. But fear not thou. As I prepared this message, this message came about because
all I did was run references. It just fell into place. I thank
the Lord when it does that. Whatever you may think of the
message, it came from my heart. And it just came from the Scriptures.
And as I looked these verses over, because I'd read them all,
of course, and then I'd arranged them into what I felt like was
a presentable order, I thought, the Lord sure does
say, fear not a lot. And I know that's number one
to help me. And number two, it's to help
you. But fear not thou, O my servant
Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel. For behold, and this is well
worth a behold, I will save thee. Don't you love that? I will save thee. I'll do it
from afar off. "...and thy seed from the land
of their captivity." I'm going to save everybody who's in captivity
to sin and Satan, all of my people. "...and they shall return and
be in rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid." And one
more reference, and that's back to where I began, Isaiah 45.
And I'll close out with this. Isaiah 45 and verse 17. Isaiah 45, 17. But Israel, you've got to love
this. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord with an everlasting salvation. ye shall not be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end." Who will be saved? All of God's true people. All
of true Israel. Well, how will they be saved?
In the Lord Jesus. And what kind of salvation is
this? It's an everlasting salvation.
And what will be the result? We will stand before God and
we won't be ashamed. I'm ashamed of myself even now,
aren't you? I think about my own sinfulness. I'm ashamed. But when I stand
before God, robed in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, as
I am now, but then free from sin totally, I won't be ashamed. I'll rejoice in that grace of
God that saved me through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I won't be confounded either because I'll understand. I'm
there with Him, with all of y'all singing His praises only because
of what Christ Jesus did for me and because of who He is.
So we're not going to be ashamed. We're not going to be confounded
either. and we'll bless Him for saving the seed of Jacob, all
the spiritual sons of Jacob. Well, let's pray.