I think most everybody in here
knows by now that Brother Nathan's cancer has come back, and he's
going in tomorrow to talk with the doctor about whatever options
there are. And needless to say, they're
troubled, and their family's troubled. And this message, I
kind of prepared with them in mind. Now, I'd like for you to turn
with me to 2 Peter 1. And I'm going to be speaking
only the first four verses here, but I want you just to hold your
place there for a little while. Men often speak of the Lord as
though circumstances dictate how God works in one place or
another. They talk as though the living
God were ignorant of certain situations, or as though He had
no power over creation or providence. And they say, yes, but, and then
they begin to tell you whatever circumstances there were. Yes,
I believe God does the work, and yet But. But. Well, just take that word,
but, if you've got a pencil and erase it out when it's used that
way. God worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will. A man said recently, well, the
Lord uses different means in different places. Is that true? Is that true? Does God work differently
in Arkansas than He would in California? Are sinners somehow
different out there than they are here? Is there some difference
in the power needed to convert sinners out there than there
is here? Does He work differently in deepest,
darkest Africa than He does here in the United States? You get
back there among those heathens, probably grew up worshiping a
totem pole or something, or some kind of god, and they got these
witch doctors, and they're dancing around half-dressed with a bone
in their nose. Does God work differently there
than He does here? Does He work differently among
the wise than He does among the heathen, or among the religious
than He does the heathen? The circumstances dictate how
God saves sinners. My friend, let me tell you something
about the God of glory. God cannot change. Now let that go in. God cannot
change. God will not change. And God does not change. In Malachi 3, verse 6, he said,
I am the Lord, I change not. And he uses that not as a warning, but as a prop, as a hope. He said, I am the Lord, I change
not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. It's the very
unchangeableness of God that props us up. That's what my hope
is based on that. What if God could change? Well, He might say one thing
now, but when I get to judgment, say something else. What if circumstance dictated
the change? I might be a believer all my
life and drop the ball right at the last minute. What kind of a hope is that? God cannot change. He cannot
change. God is unchangeable. He's unchangeable
in His character. God's absolute perfections of
character will never change. I beg you, go to the Word of
God and read it. Don't go out into eternity expecting
God to change. God's not going to change. He's
the same now, He was the same in the beginning, and He's going
to be the same in eternity future. He's as holy now as he was in
eternity past when he dwelt all alone. He's as righteous now as he was
before the fall of man. The fall of man did not affect
the righteousness of God one iota. God is as just today as
he was when he buried this world in a flood. And so it is with all His glorious
attributes. His love for His elect never
changes. Never changes. He loved Jacob. He said that. Jacob have I loved. Well, what about when Jacob was
slipping and falling and floundering around? What about all that?
He come out. He called him the heel grasper.
That's what his name meant. He come out, had hold of Esau's
foot. God's love never changed. Never
changed. And so it is. His mercy and grace
are as pure now as they were before the foundation of the
world. His kindness and long-suffering have not diminished because of
time and circumstance. God is unchangeable in His character. I can read about Noah. How many
thousands of years ago was that? How could you get any hope out
of that? Old Noah sitting back there. God said He looked down
on His creation, looked down on humanity, and every thought,
every imagination of man, all of his thoughts was only evil
continually. But it said Noah found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. And I can read about old Noah
finding grace in the eyes of the Lord and all of that. And
I can take comfort in it knowing that that grace is the same right
now as it was back then. I can read about God's mercy
toward rebellious Israel. And I can find hope knowing that
His mercy never changes. Never changes. God's character
never changes. Old Testament or new, ancient
or present day, eternity past or eternity future. I am the
same, our Lord said, yesterday, today, and forever. I was talking
to one of my sisters about the wrath of God against sin. And
she had some beliefs. She said, I don't believe in
eternal punishment. I don't believe in hell. And
she said, well, of course she wouldn't. Of course you wouldn't. I'm telling you here this morning,
some of you, you don't believe it either, even though you confess
that you do. If you believed it, you'd be trying to do something
to keep them going there. Eternal punishment? And I was quoting to her some
of the examples and statements out of the Old Testament, and
she said, yes, but that all changed when Jesus came. Did God's wrath change any at
all? No. If it had changed, He wouldn't
have crucified His own Son. He wouldn't have put His own
Son to death. God's justice hadn't changed any at all. God cannot
change. To change would indicate a weakness
in God. Why would God change? Is there
something that perfect wisdom doesn't know? Is there some unknown power that's
a threat to the Almighty? Is His purposes and counsels
full of flaws and imperfections so that He can't do the things
that He would? He told those unbelieving men
in the Old Testament, He said, is my hands tied? Is my arm shortened
that I cannot save? Is there something out there
to prevent God from doing what He's purposed to do? God cannot
change. And if He could, He would cease
to be God. Now turn with me to James chapter
1. Because God Himself cannot change,
His blessings and His gifts can't change either. I want you to see this. God cannot
change. If I had time, I could spend
an hour going through the Bible showing you scriptures that says
that very thing. God himself cannot change, neither
can his blessings and gifts, because he himself, the giver,
is unchangeable. Now look at this. James chapter
1, verse 17. Every good gift and every perfect
gift. What in the world is he talking
about? Well, the gift of God's eternal life, isn't it? He's
talking about eternal life. By grace, or you say, through
faith, that not of yourself, it is the gift of God. So, he's
talking about faith. Every good gift and every perfect
gift is from above, and it cometh down from the Father of lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3
through 4 tells us that God the Father hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world. Have I any reason to believe
that something in time or circumstance can prevent these gifts from
being bestowed upon those for whom it was purposed? You can't,
can you? because He can't change. They're
not even a shadow of turning in Him. Those whom God the Father
blessed from eternity past has no variableness. I don't care
what happens in time. If man falls, if angels fall,
I don't care what happens in time. I don't care where he lives. I don't care how far away he
is. God's blessings are not going to change. Those for whom He
purposed these blessings, are going to receive these blessings.
Nothing can prevent these gifts from being bestowed upon His
people. Is there some unforeseen event, some unknown problem,
some uncalculated trouble to prevent the grace and mercy of
God in Christ from being victorious? Absolutely not. None can stay
His hand or say unto Him what doeth that. Because of the giver of these
gifts has no bearableness, neither shadow of turning, in Christ
we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated unto the
adoption of children according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will." Unchanging. Unchanging. What about if I slip
and fall? Doesn't affect him whatsoever.
Oh, but what about if, like David, I forget? And then I begin, oh,
I get just full of myself. I'm the king. I'm the king, Winston. I'm sitting on the throne. I
get full of myself. And before you know it, I'm looking
down there on a woman and I begin to lust after her, but she's
married. But I'm the king. I'm the king. So I take care
of him. I know I'm going to kill him.
We're not going to do it that way. We're going to do it religious.
So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to send him out into
battle, and then I'm going to tell my key men, now when you
get out there, y'all back off. Just leave him out there in the
front. Myself. Huh? What about that?
God doesn't change. He don't change. Plotted and
planned the murder of his best friend, one of his chief men
and most faithful men in his kingdom. God didn't change. I didn't change. I could tell
you some things about Solomon. I'll spare that because of the
little children here this morning. God didn't change. And so it
is with the Apostle Paul. What about Paul? He's out here
holding the coat of God's evangelist. He's out here holding his coat
while these men put him to death. God didn't change. Because the giver of these gifts
has no bearableness, neither shadow of turning. In Christ
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 what about God's promises? God has promised
eternal life, adoption, redemption, reconciliation, salvation, regeneration,
sanctification, preservation. What about all those promises?
Are these promises subject to change? Is there something out
there that is going to cause God's promises not to come to
you for whom they were purposed? Listen to the Scriptures. Hebrews
chapter 6 verse 17. We are in God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability. You know what
that means? Unchangeableness. to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it with an oath that
by two immutable things, God's word, God's oath, in which it
was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation
who had fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us. It's not the changeable God of
free will works religion that offers hope to sinners, but the
sovereign, immutable God of glory. That's who offers hope. When
men get in trouble, they don't pray to a God who's not sovereign,
because an unsovereign God can't do them any good. They pray to
a sovereign then. Now, God, we know if it be your
will, you can save us. You can spare me from this. Well,
yesterday you thought free will saved you. Now today you pray
unto a sovereign God. I'm telling you, God doesn't
change and you don't want one who can. He can't do you any
good. He couldn't do you any good. If God could change in the present,
He could change in the future. Creation will one day wax old
as a garment and as a vesture. He'll fold them up. And they
shall be changed, he said. But thou art the same. Fold creation up like an old
sack. It served its purpose. It's went
its length. It's done its job. It accomplished
its end. And now he just folds it up.
But God's the same. He doesn't change any. He doesn't
change any. And because He cannot change,
His Word cannot change. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but My Word shall not pass away. And so it is with everything
concerning the salvation of God's elect. They are just one body.
They are not a Jewish body and a Gentile body. They are not
a Catholic body and a Protestant body. There's one body. Always was, always will be. One body. The Church of the Living
God. And there's just one Spirit.
The Spirit of the Living God is one. And as God, He's immutable. He's unchangeable. He's the same
now as He was when He brooded and moved upon the waters of
creation. His work is the same. He still
enlightens. regenerates, calls, works in
us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. He doesn't
work one way in one church and another way in another church.
There's one body and there's one spirit. Even as you're called
in one hope of your calling, they're just one hope. Christ
in you, the hope of glory, they're just one hope. Just one hope given to sinners
called of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. And then
He tells us this. He said, there's just one Lord.
There's just one Lord. In His time, He shall show. In
His times. I'm sorry, I misquoted that.
In His times. He shall show who is the blessed
and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords."
That's 1 Timothy 6, verse 15. God showed His Lordship in His
eternal counsels and appointments of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only
a sovereign could do that. He showed His Lordship in the
promises and prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures. He
showed His Lordship in the creation of the world. He showed His Lordship
by His virgin birth, His miracles, His death and resurrection. He
showed His Lordship and shows it right now in His present reign
and glory. And He shows His Lordship in
the calling out of every chosen vessel in this world. The first
thing He does is declare to you His Lordship. He's Lord. He's
Lord of the dead and the living. He's Lord. Just one Lord and just one faith. True faith is the gift of God's
sovereign grace. It is. True faith is the gift
of God's sovereign grace who enables us to believe. He gives
us a faith that is of such quality as to survive all things, trials
and troubles and persecutions, even death. These all died in
faith. And if any man draw back, the
Lord said, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we're
not of them that draw back under perdition. We're of them who
believe to the saving of the soul. Why? Because he gave you
faith. And he ain't going to take it
back. He ain't going to take it back. I'll never leave you. You know why? Because he don't
change. He don't change. One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Baptism is immersion. Several
times in the Scriptures, we're said to be buried with Him in
baptism. Baptism is the believer's confession
of faith. And baptism is the answer of
an obedient conscious toward God. And baptism is not optional. It's the commandment of God.
Baptisms only for believers. That Ethiopian eunuch asked,
what does hinder me from being baptized? He said, you believe? Huh? Well, pull that jade over. I'll
baptize you if you believe. Because faith is the gift of
the unchangeable God. There is no part of our salvation
which God the Father is not involved in. Every part of it from its
conception in the beginning to its end according to His purpose
and for His glory. And I for one am just sick to
death of hearing about all the different ways that God saves
sinners. That's a lie. It's a lie. That's the doctrines of devils
is what it is. It's antichrist. God does not
change. And because He does not change,
His means are the same. His promises are the same. His
word is the same. I change not. And because I don't
change, you're not concerned. Because I don't change, you have
hope. My soul, what if He changed?
Oh, what if He looked at you? and what you do, and what you
think, and what you say, what kind of hope would you have?
You'd be on the mountaintop one minute, in the valley the next,
blown about with every wind of doctrine. But your God does not
change. And because He don't, my hope
don't change. My hope don't change. Peter doesn't write to everyone
that's made a profession of faith. He's not writing to every man
or woman who takes to themselves the name Christian. He writes
to them. Now listen. In verse 1, 2 Peter
1. He writes unto them who have
obtained. Who did they get it from? The
unchangeable God. Who have obtained. Now listen. Like precious faith. I'm going to tell you something.
I don't care where you go. Things don't change. When I cross that
Mississippi River going over there to Mississippi, ain't nothing
changed. Just the state. Just the geography. That's the
only thing that's changed. Nothing changes over there. It's
the same over there as it is here. It's the same when I go
up to Kentucky. It's the same. If I go to Alabama,
it's the same. It's the same everywhere. He is talking here to men and
women who have like, precious faith. And I talk to men on the
telephone from Australia, and they believe the same thing.
I talk to men from Africa, they believe the same thing. God preached to them the same
gospel. God calls them to give them an
understanding, to understand the grace of God in Christ and
that salvation accomplished by Him. It's the same. I don't care
where you meet them, Russell, it's the same. Those who have obtained, they
have it in their possession. They have it. How do I know you
have it? That's what I want to know. How
do I know I'm one that this unchangeable God has loved? How do I know
that I'm the object of His love and the object of His gifts?
How do I know it's been given to me? I'll tell you how, I believe. I believe. Oh, preacher, I don't believe
like I ought to. That's why it's not in your care
to preserve. That's exactly why. We're kept
by the power of God through faith. Thank God it's not in my possession
to keep. I couldn't keep anything. Oh,
He can though. He can. He writes to them who have obtained
like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God our
Savior Jesus Christ. And you can't grow in grace until
you're called by grace. You can't believe in grace until
you hear of grace. And you can't walk in grace until
God enables you. to understand it and receive
it and rejoice in it. 2 Peter 1, verse 2, Grace and
peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord, according as His divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue. Oh my soul, it wasn't in my power. It wasn't my decision, my little
piddly decision. When you say, you mean somebody
said the other day that I just don't believe in a God who drags
people into heaven. I don't either. I believe in
God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And you'll be willing in the day of His power. Until then,
you ain't going to be willing. But I'll tell you this, you'd
be willing to do every silly thing there is under heaven except
for that. You'd be willing to walk down
aisles. You'd be willing to kiss some old phony's hand, ring,
and whatever else there is. You'd be willing to do that.
You'd run around here and make a fool out of yourself doing
that. But you'd be willing in the day of his power to bow to
Christ and look to this unchangeable God. Free will evolutionary salvation,
is what I call it, has led men and women to believe in an evolutionary
creation. And they're both a total denial
of the Word of God. It's all and every part of our
salvation according to His divine power. That's what Peter's telling
us. This unchangeable God, who's almighty, according to that power,
has imparted to you wisdom. Knowledge. Life. All things. Boy, that's a big
word, that all. All things. Not just some of
them. All things that pertain unto
life and godliness. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Well, God didn't save
me that way. Could be God didn't save you
at all. Maybe you ought to think about that. Maybe you just ought
to give that some thought. Maybe God didn't save you. Well,
God uses different means in different places. Maybe He hadn't used
His means toward you at all. Let me tell you something. Men say, I hear this all the
time, well, I made up my mind to turn over a new leaf, and
I told God if He'd save me, I'd follow Him the rest of my life.
God don't make deals. What kind of God do you got? We're going to tribute creation
to God, but He'll sit and listen to me make deals with Him. That's
foolishness. It's all of God, and it's all
of grace, and it's all according to His good pleasure. According
to the divine power of our unchangeable God, He's given us all things
that pertain to life and godliness. And if it weren't so, nobody
would have it. Nobody would have it. And He's
given unto us exceeding great and precious promises. Promises
of sonship. Promises of life eternal. Promises
of redemption, justification, sanctification. Promises of righteousness. Promises of the resurrection.
Promises of preservation. And all of these promises, he
said, that you might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that's in the world through lust. Let
me tell you something. Children of God are born of God.
They're born of God. They're new creatures in Christ
Jesus. And old things have passed away, and behold, all things
have become new. When a man, woman, boy or girl
is born of God, it's sometimes called a washing, a washing and
a renewing in Titus 3 verses 5 and 6. And by faith we see
our sins washed away in the blood of Christ. By faith we see our
filthy rags of righteousness washed away and a new robe of
perfect righteousness provided for us. All of our old ideas
and concepts are renewed with the truth and were made wise
unto salvation, having escaped that corruption that's in the
world through lust. It's not talking about an eradication
of the old nature here. No honest man can say he's free
from the depravity of his nature. You can't do it and be honest.
You might do it to another person and hide it from him, but you
can't be honest with yourself and say, I don't have any sin.
John said, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. Paul was a saved man. He was
an apostle and a writer of Scripture, and yet he cried, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Brethren, according to the Scriptures,
our enemies shall be they of our own household. They're not
trying to be your enemies. I'm not angry with my relatives.
They're not trying. They're not trying to be my enemies.
That's not what they're attempting to do, but they're your enemies
because of the influence they have over you with the lies that
they've been deceived to believe. And because they're close to
you, they do you harm. Believers escape this corruption
because they know better, because they know their end, and because
they have been enlightened of God. Believers are all of like
precious faith. Their faith all comes from the
same source. Their faith all comes by the
gift of God's grace. Their faith has the same object,
Christ. Their faith has the same wisdom,
Christ crucified. Their faith all comes the same
way through the preaching of the gospel and the power of God's
Spirit. Their faith is all preserved the same way. They hear the gospel
of God and grow in grace under the power of the Holy Spirit.
Their faith all bears the same fruit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
kindness. Their faith all survives trials
and troubles. And they all die in faith. All of them. Believers all have
like precious faith. And it's the same because the
giver is the same. And it remains the same because
He never changes. He never changes. May God be
pleased to give us all such faith.