Turn with me to Malachi, Malachi
chapter 3, the last book in the Old Testament. We'd like to read
just one verse, Malachi chapter 3, verse 6. Our God speaks these words for
our comfort. He says in verse 6, for I am
the Lord, I change not. And here's the sweet consequence
of that. Therefore, because God changes
not, therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Like we just
sang, on Christ the solid rock I stand. God unchanging. I find it interesting, never
thought about this until this afternoon, but realizing that
Malachi was the last prophet that God spoke to the people
by, as he closed the Old Testament, these were the last words of
the Old Testament, Malachi. And then there was 400 years.
They're referred to as the silent years. That is, 400 years in
which God didn't speak to the people by a prophet until that
last prophet appeared on the scene, John the Baptist, with
this message, Behold the Lamb of God. In those 400 silent years
with God not speaking to man, can you imagine the changes that
took place? But this is what I found is interesting. that religion flourished. True godliness dwindled. The
true worship of God in spirit and truth declined, certainly.
But religion continued to flourish. That's not a good thing. Not
a good thing. Men don't need God in order to
have religion. Religion without Christ is a
terrible thing. When our Lord appeared on the
scene, He said this to the religious leaders, the Sadducees, the Pharisees,
those who were instructors and teachers of the people. He said,
you make void the word of God by your tradition. And you teach
for God's word the tradition of men. They had certainly changed
for the worse, but God changed not. He hadn't changed in his
person, and he hadn't changed in his purpose. It was yet the
same. I am the Lord, I change not. Unaltered in his character, unaltered
in his purpose, unaltered in his promises to his people. There's
a hymn, we'll sing it as we close the service tonight. I'd like
to read just one verse of it. It says this, very comforting.
Swift to the close ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow
dim, its glories pass away. We read that a moment ago, didn't
we, in Isaiah 40. All flesh is grass. Change and
decay in all around I see. O thou who changes not, abide
with me. Everything else is uncertain.
Everything else is fleeting. Everything else has corruption
written on it. But God, you that never changes,
you that abideth faithful, you that are immutable, this is what
our text says, I am the Lord, I change not. Abide with me. The psalmist said, I will lift
up my eyes unto the hills unto the Lord from whence cometh my
help. Only God remains eternally the
same. He never changes. I am the Lord,
I change not. Now talk about stability. You
won't find it in the stock market. You won't find it in friendships.
You won't find it in relationships. They change. Oh, but not God. This is perfect stability. Here's a solid rock. This is
something on which we can fall and put all the weight of our
immortal soul. As Paul said, trusting him, knowing
whom I have believed. knowing who he is, knowing something
about him. I have this trust that he's able
to keep that, that I've committed unto him against that day. God will not change. He need
not change, and he cannot change. This is the one constant in the
universe. James said concerning our Lord,
with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Whatever
God was yesterday, he will be today, and he will be forever. There's no need for God to change. You and I change. Either for
better or for worse. Usually for worse. But not God. Not God. He's perfect. He's perfect. In every divine attribute, God
is perfect. There's no need for Him to change. You can't improve perfection. And God sets upon His throne
of absolute dominion. If he's God, he has an absolute
dominion. He rules over everything. Don't you find that comforting?
Turn, if you will, back to the Psalms. Let's just read a couple
of places in Psalm 90. David speaks of this. God's immutability
is unchanging. Psalm 90, verse 1. Actually, this is the Psalm of
Moses. Verse one, Moses wrote in Psalm 90, Lord, thou has been
our dwelling place in all generations. Verse two, before the mountains
were brought forth, or ever thou hast formed the earth and the
world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Or he could have wrote, thou
art everlastingly God. You're always God, you always
rule. And turn if you will to Psalm
115. David's enemies come around and
in mockery, In mockery, they asked David, where's your God
now? Where's your God now? You remember
how Satan whispered to Job through his wife, why don't you curse
God and die? All these evils befalling you?
Why do you hold your integrity? Why do you trust God? David was
asked the same question. Psalm 115 verse 1. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? But our God, don't you like that? But our God. Our God's in the
heavens. It makes no difference who's
in the White House. God's in the heavens. He's the
one ruling. Our God is in the heavens. He's
where he's always been. Ruling everything. And he had
done, well, it just follows. If he's God, If he's God overall,
then it follows he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. If he doesn't, Todd, he's not
God. If there's anything that he doesn't
control, then that means it controls him and he would cease to be
God. But God looks down from the throne
of sovereign majesty, looks down on heaven and earth, on angels,
on men, and he declares, unlike all these, he says, I change
not. Turn, if you will, to Isaiah,
Isaiah chapter 14. We find people all the time that
speak as though Satan were an equal with God. I've had men
tell me, people that claim to be Christians, that right now
there's a battle between God and Satan. not sure of the outcome. And I look at him and ask him,
Lord, what kind of God is that? That's not the God of Scripture.
Our God's in the heavens doing whatsoever he hath pleased. Now, listen to what it says concerning
Satan in Isaiah chapter 14, verse 12. How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer? Why did he fall? Because God
booted him out. How far art thou fallen, O Lucifer,
son of the morning? How art thou cut down to the
ground, which didst weaken the nations? For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven. There's no question about
that. That was Satan's intent. But
he wasn't able to fulfill it. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. Will you now? I will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. I
will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like
the most high. yet. Was God rattled? Was God upset? Was there a stampede
in heaven to try to rearrange everything? Was this not taken
into account? Well, does it sound like God's
upset? Verse fifteen, yet thou, now
Satan has spoken, he will do this and that, and now God Almighty
speaks. The God of the devil speaks.
Yet thou shall be brought down to hell to the sides of the earth. Doesn't sound like to me that
Satan is a rival or an equal to God Almighty. You know why? Because as we read a moment ago,
our God is in the heavens. Don't you find that comforting?
Our God is in the heavens doing what? Whatever he pleased. And he's pleased to make us a
people. He was pleased to send his son. He's pleased to call out his
elect. And it's his good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Our God
has his way. What about when it storms? Oh,
he has his way in the storm, in the whirlwind, and the clouds
are the dust of his feet. He's God over all and he's God
always, everywhere and with everyone. Sin entered the world, but God
didn't change. Kingdoms come and kingdoms go,
but God remains the same forever. Let's read a few more passages
of here that tell us this blessed, blessed truth that God ruleth
over all. Oh, for grace to trust him more. I don't trust him like I should,
not nearly like I should, but as you've often heard said, he's
trustworthy, isn't he? He merits all my trust. Verse
12 of Psalm 102. No, let's read verse 11 in contrast
to what they said in verse 12 concerning us. concerning man,
my days are like a shadow that declineth, here today and gone
tomorrow, and I am withered like grass, but God, but thou, O Lord,
not so, not so, but thou, O Lord, shalt endure forever, and thy
remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion. for the time to favor her, yea,
the set time is come. Skip down to verse 25 of Psalm
102. Of old has thou laid the foundation
of the earth. This is what the writer in Hebrew
1 quotes. Of old thou has laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They
shall perish, but thou shall endure. Yea, all of them shall
wax old like a garment, and as a vesture shall thou change them,
and they shall be changed. But thou, but thou, but my God. thou art the same, and thy years
shall have no end. The children of thy servants
shall continue, and their seed shall establish before thee. Our unchanging God, I am the
Lord, I change not. Therefore, therefore, It must
be well with my soul. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed, but thou art the same. Thou, God, that one who
holds me in his mighty hand, changes not. Thou is sworn to
keep all those that come unto thee through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thou, God, who alone is all of
my salvation, and all of my hope. I don't have an inkling of a
hope outside of him. Outside of his mercy Lord, outside
of his grace, outside of the triune God, I don't have a hope
anywhere else. anything else, nothing I've ever
done, nothing I ever shall do. My hope is in him, our God who
changes not. Thou alone is all my salvation
that David said. You remember when David spoke
those words in second Samuel? Oh what changes did David go
through in his life? We can identify with this, can
we not? He said, I once was young. Remember,
when you were young, just didn't think you'd ever get older. Didn't
think you'd ever grow up. Look back on it now. It's been
like a vapor. The most amazing thing to me
about it is its swiftness, how fast it's gone by. David said,
I once was young. but no more. Now, now I'm old
and my entire life is like a blade of grass. Here today and then
gone. Looking back on his life, David
saw triumph and he saw tragedy. Imagine what it must have been
like that day when his father Jesse told him to take some food
out to his brothers who were in war with the Philistines under
King Saul, and while David's there, this giant of a man comes
out, defying the armies of Israel, cursing their God, and David
says, why are you allowing this? And David goes out with his sling
and his stone, and the giant looks down at him and laughs. This is an insult to me, he says. Is this the best you've got?
And David said, you come to me with your spear and your shield,
But, but I come to you in the name of the Lord God of Israel
and he'll deliver your carcass to me this day and I'll cut off
your head with your own sword and fill your carcass to the
vultures and that's exactly what happened. Oh my soul, what a
scene. And then you see that same man,
that same man. taking another man's wife, having
that man murdered, and then trying his best to cover up the fact
afterwards how far he had fallen. In the checkered life of the
son of Jesse, you have happiness. Oh, what a happy song this is. When he would say, blessed is
the man, the word is happy. Happy is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity. My soul brothers and sisters,
that makes for a happy man, does it not? But then you have heartache. You hear the same man crying
out, oh god, my sin. My sin is ever before me. Lord, purge me, cleanse me, wash
me thoroughly and I shall be clean. You have faithfulness
and you have Never changed. And this was David's
foundation. This was David's refuge. And
that is David's God. He says, I am the Lord, I change
not. That's the rock. That's the rock
that is higher than I. That's the rock that we flee
to. That's the refuge that we run
into and are safe. Turn, if you will, to 2 Samuel
chapter 22. And then we'll look at the last
words of David in chapter 23. But look what he says in chapter
22 first. Verse 1. And David spake unto the Lord,
or rather David spake unto the Lord the words of this song in
the day that the Lord had delivered him out of the hand of his enemies
and out of the hand of Saul. And he said, the Lord is my rock.
my fortress, my deliverer, the god of my rock. In him will I
trust. He is my shield and the horn
of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior. Thou
savest me from violence. I will call on the Lord who is
worthy to be praised. So shall I be saved from my enemies. When the waves of death compassed
me, the floods of the ungodly men made me afraid. The sorrows
of hell compassed me about. The snares of death prevented
me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried to my
God and he did hear my voice out of his temple and my cry
did enter into his ears. And now let's turn over to chapter
23 in 2 Samuel. These are the last words of David.
He speaks these words on his deathbed. And listen to what
he says. Verse 1. Now these be the last
words of David. David, the son of Jesse, said,
And the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the
God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel said, The Spirit of
the Lord spake by me, and his word was in my tongue. The God
of Israel said, The rock of Israel spake to me. He that ruleth over
men must be just, ruling in the fear of God. And he shall be
as the light of the morning, When the sun rises, even a morning
without clouds is the tender grass springing out of the earth
by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not so with
God. And I suspect that we can all
identify with those words, can't we? We can all say the same thing. Although my house be not so with
God. Yet. David could say, although my
children have not turned out as I desired, I've had heartache,
sorrow, failure, yet this hasn't changed. This has never changed. This solid rock, this refuge,
this high tower, yet he had made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and sure, as sure as the throne of God.
For this is all my salvation, David says, and all my desire,
although he make it not to grow. He the eternal I am, God without
beginning or end, without cause. Everything has a cause. has a
cause, except God. The only being that doesn't,
without cause, he says, I change not. He changes in none of his
divine attributes. That is, all his characteristics
that make him God, he says, I change not. Not in his power. He's always
omnipotent. always all-powerful. He said,
None can stay my hand, or say unto me, What doest thou? In
knowledge he's all-knowing. Now we've all met people and
or heard certain folks referred to as He's just a know-it-all. He thinks he knows it all. Well,
he's suffering under a delusion, whoever that may be, but God,
it's so. In knowledge, he's all-knowing.
God Almighty has never learned a thing. Imagine that. He's never learned a thing. He's all-knowing. He's never
forgot anything. In his faithfulness, he says,
I change not. He abideth faithful. To his purpose,
to his people, to his promise, he says, I change not. He brings all of his purposes
to pass in time, his own time. This is what Paul was considering
when he bowed down before the throne of God and said, of him
and through him and to him are all things. That's the attitude
of true worship. The creature bowing down, taking
his proper place before the throne of God, bowing down in the dust
before him and with the heart filled with adoration and wonder
and praise. This pygmy of a God that we here
talked about today, he doesn't deserve to be adored. He doesn't
deserve to be trusted. Oh, but the God that we're talking
about, this God that says, I am the Lord, I change not, this
God that always has His way, this God that's in the heavens
doing whatsoever He has pleased, this God that redeemed His people
from their sins, this Lord Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today,
and forever, He deserves all praise. He deserves all wonder. He deserves all worship. He deserves
to be bowed down before the mighty God, the everlasting father,
our counselor, and the prince of peace, and say with Paul,
of him, and through him, and back to him. Just an infinite,
continuous circle of the glory of the majesty of our great God. He works all things, Paul said
in Ephesians chapter 1, after the counsel of his own will. And his will and purpose is never
frustrated. Isn't that amazing? His will
and purpose is never frustrated. Can't say that about my plans.
Oh, but God's purpose is never said it not. Can that be said
of anything else? Can that which he created frustrate
its creator? There are many devices in a man's
heart, we read in Proverbs 19. Nevertheless, the counsel of
the Lord, that shall stand. Turn back, if you will, to Isaiah
chapter 14 again for just a moment. Isaiah chapter 14, we read these
words, verse 24. Isaiah 14 and verse 24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, Surely, as I have thought So shall it come to pass. And
as I have purposed, so shall it stand. That's a God worth
trusting, isn't it? Verse 27, For the Lord of host
hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? That's a good question. And his hand is stretched out,
and who shall turn it back? Look in chapter 46 of Isaiah. Chapter 46, verse 10. Well, let's read verse nine as
well. Isaiah 46 verse nine and ten. Remember the former things
of old for I am God and there is none else. I am God and there
is none like me. declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Nothing ever changes about our
God. Nothing ever catches him off
guard. And his love, his everlasting
love, likewise, is unchanging. The Lord, the prophet Jeremiah,
said, The Lord hath appeared unto me of old, saying, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, with cords of
love have I drawn thee. And that most familiar verse,
John 13. Just before he went to the garden,
just before the traitor brought the band of soldiers to arrest
him, just before they all forsook him and fled, just before Peter
would shortly hereafter deny that he even knew him. We read,
even before all this, we read, having loved his own, which were
in the world, he loved them until the end. loved his own. He loved him until
the end. His love is like himself. The
same yesterday, today, and forever. Without beginning. Without beginning. Without a cause. We hear talk
about unconditional love. There's no such thing. Not among
men. All but with God's love for his
people there is. He loved us freely. freely. I will love them freely
without a cause, without a reason in them. God loves us without
a limitation, without change, and without end. Yet have I loved
Jacob, he says in chapter one of Malachi. God doesn't love
today and hate tomorrow. What kind of God is that? We're
told about a God who loves everybody enough to desire their salvation,
to want to save them. Enough to send his son, we're
told, to die for them. And yet, so many end up in hell. So what's God's love got to do
with salvation? What difference does his love
make? If he loves Esau as much as he did Jacob, what difference
did it make? If he loves Peter as much as
he did Judas, what difference does his love make? Oh, but his
love makes all the difference. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love and having loved his own, though they deny
him. He yet abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. He loved
them until the end. God doesn't love today and then
hate tomorrow. When I fell in Adam, fell into
sin, fell into spiritual death, his love never changed. He still
loved me. Oh, behold, behold what matter
of love the father had bestowed upon us that we should be that we of all people should
be called the sons of God. David, on another occasion, sat
down and said, Lord, who am I and what is my house that you've
blessed me so? This is not after the manner
of men. Oh, no. This is God-like. God-like. God loves his own until
the end. God's love is not a helpless
emotion. But a love that does, a love
that performs, a love that He foreloved, He also predestinated
and justified and called and will glorify. Are you still in
Isaiah? Turn over to chapter 54. Isaiah
chapter 54 and verse 7. Isaiah 54 and 7. for a small moment have I forsaken
thee but I love those words but but god but grace but with great
mercies will I gather thee In a little wrath, I hid my face
from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer. For this is as
the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters
of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that
I will not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee. For the mountains
shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall
not depart from thee. Neither shall the covenant of
my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. As to his promises, God says,
I change not. Paul in Romans 11 verse 29 says,
the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance. on God's part. God will never
repent. According to that everlasting
covenant, he promised to regenerate, to adopt, to reveal himself to
his people, to have mercy, to forgive, and that covenant is
sure. This is what Paul or rather this
is what David spoke up on his deathbed. He has made with me
an everlasting covenant ordered in all things insure because
his promise was to Christ and to all those who are in Christ. Turn, if you will, to Psalm 89.
Psalm 89, let's begin reading at verse 28. My mercy will I keep for him
forevermore and my covenant shall stand fast with him. This is
God speaking to his son. He entered into the covenant
with the great shepherd on behalf of the sheep. His seed also will
I make to endure forever. and his throne is the days of
heaven. If his children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments,
if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then
will I visit their transgression with the rod and their iniquity
with stripes. Nevertheless, my loving kindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Once have
I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed
shall endure forever and is thrown as the sun before me. It shall
be established forever as the moon, as a faithful witness in
heaven, Selah. And the sweet consequence of
this, of having a God who changes not, is this. Therefore, ye sons
of Jacob are not consumed. He will never break his word. Our precious Redeemer, speaks these words to every one
of his chosen. I will never leave thee, and
I will never forsake thee. Never. Never. Not in time, not
in your life, not in death. What did David say? Though I
walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I read a message
by Mr. Spurgeon the other night when
he said, I suspect that that's gonna be the greatest blessing
in life when we're crossing over and he's with us. That's what
David said, didn't he? I will fear no evil. Why? Because
thou art with me. Thou art with me. You're with
me. In eternity, He'll never cease
to love us, and He will never remove His grace from us. He
will never charge His elect with sin. Blessed is the man whom
Thou choosest and calls us to approach unto Thee. Turn, if you will, to the book
of Micah. Micah chapter 7. The last few verses, Micah chapter
7. verse eighteen. Micah seven verse
eighteen. Who is a god like unto thee that
partners iniquity? Who is a god like unto thee that
created the heaven and the earth? Oh, but a greater marvel of our
God is this, he partners iniquity. and he passeth by the transgression
of the remnant of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger forever,
because he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, and he will
have compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities. You remember what Paul cried
out? O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? He will subdue our iniquities,
and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
Thou wilt perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham,
which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from days of old. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob,
are not consumed. Though we're weak and full of
shame, We're secure and have assurance. God unchanged remains
the same. Praise the Lord. He never changes. Come, extol his worthy name.
Yesterday, today, forever. Behold, our God remains the same. Unchanging God. Unchanging love. Unchanging grace. An unchanging
redeemer. His sacrifice speaks everlastingly. Everlastingly to God. satisfaction
to god and it speaks everlasting acceptance on the behalf of everyone
he made it for everlasting acceptance to his people. Yes, feeble faltering
Jacobs, you'll never be consumed. Our god changes not and that's
the reason we'll never perish. We're resting on that eternal
rock of ages. must prevail. He must prevail.
Nothing can prevail against it. In his same glorious person,
his same great salvation. Hallelujah. What a savior. What a savior. As I said this
morning, I say again tonight in closing this message. Happy
Thanksgiving. Thanks be unto god for his unspeakable
gift.