Thank you, Mark. Well, why are we here this morning? We're here to glorify God. We're
here to know more about who he is and how he saves sinners. That's what we're here for. So
this morning, I'm gonna, I had a another message at 10 o'clock
that had to do with the attribute of God. And this morning, as you can see the title here,
is the Immutability of God. And I'd like to begin this morning
by saying that this subject of God's immutability is probably
one of the most difficult to see and understand. in the whole
of scripture. I've heard our pastor say that
too. The immutability of God covers such a wide range of events
and occurrences throughout the scripture that are so difficult
for such weak vessels as we are to reconcile with this unchangeable
God. But nevertheless, we must deliver
this message in order to separate this true God that we worship
from all other false gods. May God be glorified in this
message. I know all of us had some idea of who God was before
God saved you. Most of it come from maybe your
parents or grandparents, other people, maybe some other preachers,
you've heard. And so what you do, you put all
that together in your mind and you make up this God of your
imagination, the one you see at that time. And it's a false
God that you're looking at. I know I did. The God that I
believed prior to God saving me was no God at all. But this morning we're gonna
look at one of the attributes of God having to do with his
immutability. This is an attribute of God and
it's peculiar to God himself. Malachi 3 says, for I am the
Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Immutability or being prone to
change belongs to God's creation and to created creatures, which
includes mankind. But immutability belongs to God
alone. There are continual changes within
all the things that God has created, but God doesn't change. The heavens
and the earth, which God has made, are not always the same.
They're subject to change, but God is the same forever. The
visible heavens are often changing. They're sometimes calm and clear
and other times covered with clouds and darkness and with
snow and rain and so forth. The face of the earth appears
different at the different seasons of the year and is peculiar,
peculiarly renewed every spring. It has undergone one great change
by flood. and will undergo another by fire.
God's word says in 2 Peter. But that day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. This is what scripture says. Also look at Psalms 102. Something comes to my mind before
I go into this next verse. Sometimes when I talk to my grandsons
and sometimes they say, well, you'd be careful. Don't upset
them about certain things. And I was thinking maybe mainly
second Peter here, we're talking about this earth and what's going
to happen in the end. But we have to tell them what
God says in his word. Also look in Psalm 102. Of old
thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens
are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt
endure. Yea, all of them shall wax old
like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they
shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy
years shall have no end. The inhabitants of heaven and
of earth are changeable continually. Even the most excellent of them,
which are angels and men, the angels in their original nature
and state before the fall were subject to change. And scripture
points this out with the apostasy of many of them, even a third
of them who have changed both their state and place. Look at
Jude 1. And the angels which kept not
their first estate, but left their own habitation, and hath
reserved an everlasting change under darkness, he hath reserved
an everlasting change under darkness, until the judgment of the great
day. But the angels which did not fall, when the rest of the
angels fell, are now impeccable, are faultless, and not able to
sin. But this is not to be attributed
to their own nature, but to the electing grace of God, even the
angels that did not fall. An old writer, John Gill, says
this of Adam's fall, and I quote, man at his best estate, his estate
of innocence and integrity, was altogether vanity. For though
not sinful, yet being mutable, and left to the immutability
of his will, which was his vanity, which tempted, fell into sin,
when tempted, fell into sin, and though made upright, Adam
in his original state, lost the rectitude of his nature, close
quote. And although Adam was made after
the image of God, he soon came short of that glory. And though
Adam had dominion over the creatures, he fell from that state. Adam
was placed in the most delightful and fruitful spot in all of creation,
which was the Garden of Eden. But Adam, rebelling against his
maker, was driven out of the Garden of God and by nature is
now a creature. subject to many changes in life,
diseases of many kinds that take over our bodies and changes our
life completely. Then death, at last, turns man
to corruption and dust. Fall of mankind is like the changeable
grounds of the field. It flourishes a while and then
cut down and withers away. But God and his word endure forever. And that, according to 1 Peter
1, Verse 24, for all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of
man is as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the
flower therefore falleth away, but the word of the Lord endureth
forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached
to you. Men are very mutable, subject
to change, both in their inward and outward estate, in spiritual
affairs, in the frames of their minds, in the affections of their
souls, in the exercise of grace, in their devotion and obedience
unto God, and in the worship of God. All of that subject to
change, even in believers. But thanks be to God our Father,
in the future state of all believers, we will be no more subject to
change. Our spirits will be made perfect,
and there will be no more sin. We will have no more sorrow,
and our bodies, when raised, will remain immortal, incorruptible,
spiritual, powerful, and glorious. But this will also not be attributed
to ourselves, but to the unchangeable grace and power of God. God only is in and of himself. immutable. This morning we'll
look at five points of God's unchangeable, immutable character. God is unchangeable in his nature
and essence, in his perfections and attributes, in his purposes
and decrees, in his love and affections to his people, and
in his covenant of grace. He's unchangeable. Now let's
first look at how God is unchangeable in his nature and in his essence. God being an infinite and uncreated
spirit and free from being combined and mixed with any other spirit
or being, our God is entirely and perfectly immutable and totally
incapable of any change. And since he is eternal, there
can be no change of time with him. God is not subject to time,
and he did not subject himself to be controlled by time. God
created time, and only creation and the creature is subject to
time. Time is a measure of the duration
of mankind in God's creation. Time began with God's creation,
which includes mankind, God is before all creatures. He is the
maker of all creatures and creation. God was the same before creation
as He is the same now. God is even the same today, yesterday,
and forever. Though He is the ancient of days,
He does not become older and older. He is no older now than
He was millions of years ago. as we might say, not knowing
how to explain eternity. Nor will he age millions of ages
to come. His eternity is an everlasting
and unchangeable now. Look at Hebrews 3, 13. Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. And seeing
he is infinite and omnipresent, There can be no change of place
with him. God fills heaven and earth with his presence. He is
everywhere and cannot change or move from place to place.
When therefore God is said to come down to earth or depart
from men, it is not to be understood of movement or change of place,
but only of the exercise of his power. and a demonstration of
his presence. God is the most perfect being
and therefore can admit of no change. His nature is neither
of increase nor decrease. These things are deep. If God changes, it must be either
for the better or the worse. If he were to change for the
better, then he was imperfect before the change And if he were
to change for the worse, then he becomes imperfect. God is
immutable. The philosopher Plato asserts
that God is good, impassable, and unchangeable. For whatever
is changed, says he, is either for the better or the worse.
If for the worse, it becomes bad. And if for the better, it
was bad at the first. If God was influenced from something
outside of himself, then there must be a superior to himself
that is able to move and change him. But he is the most high
God. There is none in heaven nor earth
above him. He is God over all, blessed forever. Nor is the immutability of the
divine nature to be disproved from the creation of the world.
and all the things in it. Our God had from all eternity
the same creative power, even if he had never created anything.
When God put it forth in time, it was according to his unchangeable
will in eternity, and produced no change in him. The change
was in the creatures that were made, not in the God who made
it. Now, the change in the creatures
is real. but makes no change in the creator's nature. I talked
about the following in one of my recent messages concerning
the divine nature of Christ entitled, Does a Believer Have Two Natures?
The unchangeableness of the divine nature of Christ cannot be disproved
by his incarnation. For though Christ, a divine person,
possessed of the divine nature was made flesh or became man,
the divine nature in him was not changed into a human nature,
nor the human nature into a divine nature, nor a third nature made
out of them both. Was this the case, the divine
nature would have been changeable, but it was not. There's a common
saying concerning the incarnation of Christ. which is Christ remained
what he was, which was divine, and assumed what he was not,
which was man. And what he assumed as a man
added nothing to his divine person. He was only manifest in the flesh. He neither received any perfection
nor imperfection from the human nature. Christ was sinless. Therefore, Christ's humanity
received dignity, and honor by its union to man. The God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
was adorned with gifts and graces of the Spirit without measure
and is now the right hand of God. There was also not any change
made in the divine nature by the sufferings of Christ. The
divine nature is incapable of suffering and is one reason why
Christ assumed a human nature. yet without sin, that he might
be capable of suffering and dying in the room instead of his people.
And though the Lord of life and glory was crucified, and God
purchased the church with his own blood, and the blood of Christ
is called the blood of the Son of God, yet he was crucified
in the human nature, only of which blood was shed. Christ,
divine person, gave virtue and efficacy by its union to that
human nature. But there was no change in the
divine nature as it relates to the incarnation of Christ. Point two, God is also unchangeable
in his perfections or attributes. God's hand is not shortened.
His strength is everlasting and his power eternal. God's knowledge
is the same. His understanding is infinite.
God's knowledge can be neither increased or decreased. The knowledge
of angels and men increases gradually, but not so with the knowledge
of God. He knows no more now than he
did from all eternity. He knew as much then as he does
now. For he knows and sees all things
together and at once in his vast eternal mind. What a God. God does not submit himself to
time, as I said, as some have said. His goodness and grace
and mercy are immutable. And even though there has been
so much goodness bestowed upon his creatures, and so much good
and perfect gifts have been bestowed upon Him, God remains the same
without any reduction, and God's goodness continues the same forever. And His grace has been exceedingly
abundant. He is as gracious and merciful
as ever to His elect. Psalm 103 says His mercy is from
everlasting to everlasting to them that fear Him. His faithfulness
never suffers to fail. Even though men believe not,
he abides faithful. And the unbelief of man cannot
make the faithfulness of God to fail. And as he is glorious
in holiness, that perfection is never tarnished in any way.
He can never be defiled, but is always enduring with honor
and glory. There is no unrighteousness in
God, He cannot change from holiness to unholiness or from righteousness
to unrighteousness. He is the just one that neither
can nor will do iniquity. And so he is unchangeably good
and immutable in every perfection of his character. Third point,
God is unchangeable in his purposes and decrees. There is a purpose
for everything and a time for that purpose. Immutability is
expressly spoken of in the counsels of God. In Hebrews 6, it says,
wherein God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs a promise,
the immutability of his counsel confirmed it by an oath. The
purposes of God are always fulfilled. God's eternal plans can never
be frustrated in any way. It is not in the power of men
or devils to stay or avoid God's plan. What men or Satan do can
never affect the eternal plans of God. And all this changing
that goes on, nothing can affect God's eternal plan. It's all
according to His purpose and His plan. It's hard to see sometimes when
you see all the changing going on, but that's the God we worship. Psalm 33 says, the counsel of
the Lord stands forever. The purposes of God are within
himself, according to Ephesians 1, 9, having made known unto
us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he
had purposed in himself. You know, this thing concerning
salvation, it ain't about us, it's about God and who God is. And there's a place in scripture
that salvation is to know God. And that's what we should spend
all our lives trying to do through His Word. And what is it? What is in Himself? And God Himself
is Himself. and he can as soon cease to exist
as to alter his mind or to change his counsel. They are eternal. Ephesians 3 verse 11 says, according
to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord, no new thoughts arise in God's mind and no new decrees
are made by His counsels are of old, and
God's purposes are called counsels, or instructions. The decrees
of God are made with the highest wisdom by Him, who is wonderful
in counsel, and excellent in working. Therefore, they are
unchangeable. And besides being all-knowing,
God sees and declares the end from the beginning, and nothing
unforeseen can ever appear to hinder the execution of his intentions
and determination. But this is not the case with
men. God is able to perform whatever he is determined to do. There
is no lack of wisdom nor power in him. But with men, wisdom
and power is lacking. God is faithful to himself, his
purposes and decrees. Isaiah says, thy counsels of
old are faithfulness and truth. and are truly faithfully performed.
The immutability of the decrees of God also can't be disproved
by providences that happen as we go through this life. Now,
with the finite minds of men, God's providences may seem to
differ from or clash with one another. For all the changes
in providence, whether with respect to the world in general All with
respect to individuals are all according to God's unchangeable
will. Job was a remarkable example of changes in providence, and
he was fully persuaded of the unchangeable will of God, and
which he strongly expresses in Job 23. Job said he is in one mind and who can turn
him, and what his soul desires, even what he does, even that
he does. For he performs the thing that
is appointed for me, and many such things are within him. Nor can the immutability of God
be disproved by the different declarations of the will of God. For example, what God would have
purposed and done in the different dispensations of law and gospel. God, by Moses, ordered the children
of Israel to observe certain laws, rites, and ceremonies until
the time of reformation. And then there was a disannulling
of them concerning the abolishment of the old covenant law by way
of fulfillment. Hebrews 9 verse 10 says, which
stood, speaking of this Old Covenant law, which stood only in meats
and drinks and divers washing and cardinal ordinances imposed
on them until the time of reformation. Reformation here signifies a
change from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant due to Christ's
fulfilling of all those Old Covenant requirements. When Christ completed
his work on the cross, the heavens and earth were shaken. That is,
the whole mosaic economy and dispensation were removed and
laid aside as useless. And other ordinances were fixed
to remain until Christ's second coming. The establishment of
the new covenant and its continuance and the abolishment of the old
covenant were all according to the unchangeable will of God
in all purpose and eternity before this world was created. Prayer
also can't be an objection to God's immutability. Prayer does
not in any way alter God's will and purpose. Whether for good
or evil, fervent prayer does not turn God away from his original
will and purpose. Jeremiah 15 says, then said the
Lord unto me, though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my
mind could not be toward this people. Cast them out of my sight
and let them go forward. When God bestows blessing on
a praying people, it's not for the sake of their prayers. As
if our prayers in any way could change God's mind, the blessings
a prayer is for God's own sake and for his own sovereign will
and purpose. You might say, to what purpose
then is prayer? The answer is, this is the way
and means God has appointed for the communication of the blessings
of his goodness to his people. For though he has purpose provided
and promised them, Yet God's purpose is that he be sought
out in prayer in order to give the blessings to his elect. It
is therefore our duty and privilege to ask God for these petitions
in prayer. And when we're blessed with the
spirit of prayer, it's a good thing and appears as if God intended
to bestow the good things asked. As believers, we should come
to God in prayer, and we should always ask in submission to the
will of God, saying, not my will, but your will be done. Fourthly,
God is unchangeable in his love and affections to his people,
to his elect. God's love to his children is
from everlasting to everlasting. without any variation in his
own heart. He's loved us from everlasting.
No matter how different the manifestations of it may be, God always rests
in his love and never alters. Nothing can separate from it.
He is love itself, and it is as unchangeable as God himself.
The same today, yesterday, and forever. Man's fall. made no difference in God's love
toward his people. Though the special objects of his love fell with Adam, they
fell in Adam's transgression, they fell into the depths of
sin and misery, but they did not fall out of Christ, their
substitute and their surety. God continued his love and manifested
it in sending his son. to be the atoning sacrifice for
our sins and God demonstrated his love by sending Christ to
die for his elect. Even while we were yet sinners,
neither does the sinful state and the condition that his elect
were brought into and continued in from their birth to their
conversion, make any changes in God's love. He doesn't begin
loving us when we're converted after our new birth. He loved
us from everlasting with that same love. Now, He looks upon them in all the
impurity of their natural state. and says to them, live. And this
time, as it is the time of life, it is the time of the open and
revealed love of God their Father. This is when it's manifested,
when God the Holy Spirit comes and converts, and that new birth
takes place, and we're able to actually see the true living
God and what He's done for us. and how he loved us from eternity. It's all open and revealed. It's open and revealed to us.
Ephesians 2 says, but God who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherein he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, have
quickened us together with Christ by grace are you saved. The afflictions
of God's people are also no evidence of any change in God. The chastenings
of the Lord are rather proofs of sonship than arguments against
it. God's rebukes of his children
are rebukes in love and not in wrath. And though he visits our
transgressions with a rod and stripes, he does not utterly
take away his loving kindness that's in Christ. Hebrews 12
says, for whom the Lord loveth, he chastens and scourges every
son whom he receives. If you endure chastening, God
dealeth with you as with sons, for what son is, is he whom the
father chastens not. But if you be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, then you are bastards and not sons.
And the fifth point, and lastly, God is unchangeable in his covenant
of grace. God's covenant of grace is made
between Christ from everlasting and before this world was created
and it stands fast with him. God's covenant with his children
is as immovable as a rock and can never be broken. The blessings
of it are sure mercies which flows from sovereign grace and
mercy. Now And they are sure and firm, being according to
God's unchangeable will, and are what he never repents of,
as our brother Mark read here in scripture a little while ago,
nor revokes. And once bestowed, they are irreversible
and never taken away. All who are blessed with these
blessings are always blessed, and it is not in any power of
men and devils to reverse these blessings. Isaiah 55 says, incline
your ear and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. The promises of the covenant,
which are gone out of God's mouth, cannot be altered. What has been
said of purposes may be said of promises, that they were made
before the world was. All things were made by God,
who cannot lie, and who is all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful, and
faithful to perform them." Look at 2 Corinthians 1. For all the
promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, unto the glory
of God by us. And also, in closing, look at
Malachi 3.6 again. For I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Aren't you thankful
that our God is immutable, that he doesn't change? as things
happen in this world. And at the same time, you know,
we continually change from day to day. I hope and pray that God is glorified
in this message. Thank you.