I have a message for us today
that may seem a little different than most of my messages, but
I want to speak to all of us today about three words, three
very simple one syllable words. And they are three words which
we should never use when speaking of God. And yet there are three
words that we can hardly not use when speaking of men and
women like you and I. The first word is the word change. And I want you to look with me,
if you will, in Malachi chapter three and verse six, the word
change. These are the words of God himself,
Malachi chapter three and verse six, for I am the Lord, I change
not. There are only two ways, I know
you've heard this before, it's a very simple fact, but there's
only two ways that a moral being might change. either for the
better or for the worse. The Lord, He cannot change for
the better because He is perfectly holy. He cannot be more holy
than He is and has always been. Neither can He change for the
worse for then He would cease to be God. The holy nature of
God cannot deteriorate in any way. I am the Lord. I change not. And yet we know
that there are a few questions that men have asked and sometimes
used to argue to try to prove that, no, that's not true, that
God does change. One of those is because there
are some verses of scripture, for instance, in Genesis chapter
six. Let me read you these two verses
here in Genesis chapter six, which were before the flood,
before God destroyed all flesh outside the ark, and God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually, and it
repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it
grieved him at heart." The use of the word repent in reference
to God, doesn't the word repent means to change? When our Lord
said, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except you repent, you
shall all likewise perish. Man must repent, he must change,
that is, his mind, he must be granted repentance to change
his mind. And this word is used in reference
to God repenting that he had made man upon the earth. But
remember this, scripture never contradicts other scripture. It never does. The same author,
God the Holy Spirit, even though he used various men to write
the Word of God, but the author of the Word of God is God the
Holy Spirit, and he never contradicts himself. And we know the scripture
tells us in James, concerning God Almighty, there's not the
shadow, there's not the shadow, the least
indication of turning in God. In the book of Job we read God
declaring or Job declaring rather about God that he is of one mind
and who can turn it. God put the words into the mouth
of that false prophet by the name of Balaam. We read about
that in the book of Numbers and this is what God gave that man
to say. God is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent, hath he said,
and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? Now, you say, well, so what do
these scriptures mean that speak about him repenting? Many times
God condescends. That's the word I want to use.
Many times He condescends to use language that is common to
us. We change. God doesn't change,
but sometimes He condescends to use language about Himself
to reveal the truth. And the truth is, while God doesn't
change, His purpose is always the same. It never has changed,
never will change. But his conduct towards an individual
may change. For instance, when Jonah went
to Nineveh and he preached 40 days and Nineveh shall be destroyed. Well, they've repented. The Ninevites repented. And God
did not destroy Nineveh at that time. Later, Nineveh was destroyed. It was the capital of the Assyrian
Empire. But God didn't change His purpose. God didn't alter what He had
determined before to be done. Obvious way to see this concerning
that passage in Genesis chapter 6 where it says God repented
the Lord that he hath made man, man so wicked, so evil. The Lord
Jesus Christ is a lamb slain from the foundation of the world. In other words, before there
was ever a sinner, God had already in his purpose provided a savior. No, God doesn't change. In Isaiah chapter 14 in verse
24, we read, the Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as
I have thought, so shall it come to pass. And as I have purposed,
so shall it stand. So when we read in the scripture
of the Lord repenting, never understand that to mean that
his nature, he changes in his nature or his purpose for that
matter. His conduct, he changes according
to his purpose. But there's a second argument
sometimes made. You say that God doesn't change,
but the eternal son of God, he came into this world, he was
made flesh. But remember this, he did not
cease to be what he had always been, that is the eternal son
of God. He did take into union with His
person that body and soul which God the Holy Spirit had prepared
for Him so that He might become flesh, be a man, and be bone
of our bone and flesh of our flesh, that He might be our kinsman,
Redeemer. He had to have flesh and blood
that he might bleed and die and instead be the sacrifice for
his people. But he had to be God for that
sacrifice to really redeem his people. He didn't cease to be
what he had always been. In fact, the Apostle Paul tells
us, for in him, that is in Christ, dwelleth the fullness of the
Godhead bodily. We worship the Lord Jesus Christ
as God because He is God. When Thomas, seeing the resurrected
Christ, fell down and said, my Lord and my God. Now, if he were
not Thomas' Lord and Thomas' God, then Thomas at that point
would have been guilty of idolatry. Because only God is to be worshiped. And if he's not God, he's not
to be worshiped, but he is God. And the Lord received that worship
from Thomas, just like he receives our worship. One of the Puritans,
one of the ones that's so well known, John Owen, he said this,
and I like this a lot. He who is God can no more be
not God, than he who is not God can be God. Let me read that
again. For he who is God can no more
be not God than he who is not God can be God. When the Lord saves us, and we
become partakers of the divine nature, that doesn't mean that
somehow we are turned into little gods. No, no, we are children
of God Almighty. But the Lord, our God, he changes
not. We never use the word change,
or at least we should. We should never speak of God
as changing. Because that's just not so. But
when we speak of man, we do use the word. Change came immediately
to man when Adam sinned. He was created in the holy image
of God. He was mutable. Only God is immutable. But Adam was created holy, upright,
as the scripture says. He fellowshiped with God, he
had communion with God, he had life, spiritual life, but the
moment he disobeyed God, when he sinned, he fell, he died,
and oh, what a change. What a change took place to Adam,
being created in the image of God, and now he is a fallen individual. He is spiritually dead. What
does that mean to be spiritually dead? It means that his heart,
his mind was darkened, darkened, tries to hide himself from God. His will was altered and his
affections. And that's what the Bible means
when it speaks about the heart, the heart of man. It's the mind,
the intellect, the affections. We say the heart, but the affections
and the volontad, the will of man. Man needs a new heart because
when we come into this world, we all come into this world with
a heart like our father Adam had immediately. once he sinned
against God, and it is a heart that is deceitful. This is what
we read in Jeremiah. It is deceitful above all things. Your heart, the heart you came
into this world with is deceitful above all things. It will deceive
you. It will deceive you. It will
deceive everyone apart from the grace of God. It will deceive
you about God. How many times people think,
well, God is like this old grandpa figure up there in heaven, you
know, just wishing or hoping that his creation would do right
and all of that. That's not God. That's not the
God of the Bible. God of the Bible changes not
as he has thought. He does, and as He is purpose,
so shall it come to pass. Man comes into this world with
a heart that's deceitful above all things, a heart, everything's
fine. I'm okay, you're okay. Seems
like I heard that a few years ago. That's just a saying that
goes around, we're all okay. Yeah, that's what a deceitful
heart will tell you. We're all okay. But that's not
what the word of God declares. But I'm thankful this morning
that while God doesn't change, what a comfort that is to me
and all of God's children. He has loved us from before the
foundation of the world if we're one of his children, and he will
never ever cease loving us. And his love will never change
because he doesn't change. He'll never love us more. He'll
never love us less. because he loves us in Christ.
In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ in his prayer says that the father
loves us even as he loves his son. Now that's big, isn't it? God loves you even as he loved
his son, Jesus Christ. What a comfort it is to know
that God doesn't change. But I'm also thankful that men
are capable of change. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature, new creation. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. God gives a new heart, a new
spirit. That's one of the promises of
the new covenant. Remove that stony heart, that
heart that's as hard as a stone. cannot be impressed with the
word of God and the spirit of God, but God removes that stony
heart and gives a new heart and a new spirit, the scripture says. A man who was a liar with a new
heart, he's changed and he desires to speak the truth. A man who
is an idolater, who's worshiped idols, is changed by the grace
of God and he becomes a worshiper of the only true and living God. Man who's proud and haughty and
self-sufficient is changed by the Spirit of God and he becomes
poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit
for theirs is the kingdom of God. To the believers at Corinth,
The Apostle Paul wrote to them, and such were some of you. And
he had listed a litany of evil practices and sinful deeds, and
such were some of you. But you have become new. But you are washed. You're sanctified,
you're justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of God. Change. Never use that word when
thinking or talking about God. But that's so true of us, as
the hymn writer said, change and decay in all around I see. O thou that changest not, abide
with me. The second word is the word need. Need, a very simple word. I want you to look in Acts chapter
17. In Acts chapter 17, and we'll just
break into this message the apostle Paul was preaching. On Mars Hill,
verse 25, neither, that is God, neither is worshiped with men's
hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life
and breath and all things, and hath made of one blood all nations
of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined
the times before appointed. and the bounds of our habitation. Need. In Psalm 50 and verse 12,
God speaking of old to Israel said, if I were hungry, if I were hungry, I would not
tell thee. He doesn't need anyone. If I were hungry, I would not
tell thee, for the world is mine. and the fullness thereof. And
that's something that this generation has lost sight of, my friend.
This is God's world. We are His creatures. He doesn't
exist for our benefit. He created men for His glory. He doesn't need anyone. He never
has and He never will. God alone is self-sufficient,
the self-existent being that He is. Everything else has need,
but God alone is uncreated. But everything created has needs,
needs things outside of itself. All, now think about this, all
breathing things, Everything that breathes has lungs and has
a need, needs air. Every organism needs food and
water. You take the air and the water
from the earth and all life would perish. But God has no need. The word need is foreign to God. He did not create the world and
all things in it because He had some need to fulfill some need
on His part. Almighty God, just because He
is almighty, He needs no support. One writer said, were all human
beings suddenly to become blind? Every man, woman, boy and girl
on the face of God's earth suddenly become blind, still the sun would
shine by day and the stars by night. For these, that is the
sun and the stars, owe nothing to the millions who benefit from
their light. So were every man on earth to
become an atheist, it would not affect God. He needs no one or
nothing outside of himself. In Psalm 16, which is a psalm
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, especially speaking of his resurrection,
that God would not leave his body in the grave, he said this,
So my goodness extendeth not unto thee, that is Christ there
speaking, his goodness, and that's not talking about his essential
goodness as God, but his goodness as the God man, which brings
in his justifying righteousness, the forgiveness of sins, of peace,
the reconciliation. His goodness adds nothing to
God, nothing. He needs nothing. We never use
the word need when speaking of God. But we cannot think of man
without realizing that men are needy creatures. A newborn baby, and I was with
the mother just recently with her new baby, just a week old,
and she pointed out to me, a baby can do nothing for itself. That's
just so, isn't it? We are needy creatures. We come
into this world, we are needy creatures. I love that verse in Psalm 40
that says, I am poor and needy. I confess that, don't you? I'm
poor. But I'm not only poor, I'm needy. I need help. I need forgiveness. I need justification. I need
sanctification. If I'm going to appear in the
presence of God, I need God to do something for me, something
for me that I cannot do for myself. I need my sins to be put away,
to be gone, to be obliterated. And I need a righteousness. I
need a dress. that will clothe me, allowing
me to come into the presence of a thrice holy God, a God who
declares that even the heavens are not clean in His sight, that
He even charges His angels with folly. The psalmist said, I'm poor and
needy. But listen, this is what I like.
I am poor and needy. Yet the Lord thinketh upon me. And his thoughts didn't begin
today. They didn't begin yesterday. I am poor and needy, yet the
Lord thinketh upon me. And his thoughts concerning me
and concerning all of his children, they are from old eternity. The psalmist said, I am poor
and needy, yet the Lord thinketh upon me. Thou art my help and
my deliverer. Make no tearing, O my God. The third word is the word learn,
L-E-A-R-N, learn, Romans chapter 11. So we never use the word change
when thinking about God. And we never use the word need
when talking about God. You know, in so many places,
God is presented as a needy being. He needs you. The only hands
he has are yours. That's sad, if that's your case.
No, he, no. Long time before we came into
this world, God was doing just fine. And after we leave this
world, he'll still be doing just fine. And the third word is the
word learn. In Romans 11, in verse 36, the
apostle said, for of him And through him and to him are
all things to whom be glory forever. I read the wrong verse, verse
34. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord or who hath been his counselor? Who has been his counselor? Who
has taught God? He's never learned anything because
he knows all things. And that's Psalm 139, the psalmist
said, thou art acquainted with all my ways. For there's not
a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. You've never spoken a word. You'll
never speak a word. And God already knows. He knows
every word. We can't remember many of our
words, But he knows them. God never learned anything. And sometimes people will say,
well, I believe God's trying to try. You believe God's trying? I believe he's trying to teach
me something. I guarantee you, if he sets out to teach you something,
he's going to teach you something. He's not going to try to teach
you something. He's gonna teach you. You never learned anything. In contrast, you and I, men,
we begin to learn when we come into this world. Baby learns when hungry to cry. They just learn
that, don't they? When they need attention to cry,
they learn. And from that point on, we're
continually learning. And hopefully, hopefully, we
will continue to learn as long as we are in this world. I read a book a few years ago
entitled, All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Some of you probably read that
book. All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten. One
of the things that the author said that he learned, and I thought
this was so good, he said, I learned my mortality. I learned that
I'm not going to live forever in this world. He said, the teacher
had us put a seed in a styrofoam cup with some dirt in it and
moisture. And that seed quickly sprung
up. And there was that green plant,
that life there. But before the school year was
ended, that life had gone. The plant had died. I wish we
could all learn that, our mortality. And how that coincides with the
word of God which says, for all flesh is as grass. That's your
flesh, that's my flesh, that's every person's flesh, our body
is like grass. What does that mean? It means
that it shoots up in the morning and then by afternoon it's cut
down and cast into the oven. And for all flesh is as grass
and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. All the
things that men glory in, they glory in their wisdom, their
riches, their power, just like the flower of the grass. Oh,
it's beautiful at first, but it soon withers and passes away. men who were considered great
men, and we consider them today as great men in the history of
our country. But many of those people, they're
forgotten. Nobody knows about, nobody cares
about them. And yet some people live their
life seeking the honor and the glory that comes from this world. Would to God we could all learn
what that man said he learned in kindergarten, and that is
the mortality of men, that all flesh is grass. That's a lesson
we need to learn. We put so much emphasis and so
much attention and so much interest in the things of this world,
and we're just here for a short while. You look back over your life
and it seems like just yesterday, when you're as old as I am and
some of you almost as old, seems like just yesterday you were
starting to, first grade. Went by fast, hasn't it? And
yet when we look to the future, we think, oh, that'll be a long
time. A year, 10 years, that's a long,
oh no. No, the future, just like the
past, it goes by quickly. And we're cut off. And we go
out into eternity. We go the way of all the earth,
as Joshua said, and David said, of all the earth. That's the
way we're going. And so many times we're unprepared. The prophet said, prepare to
meet thy God. You're going to meet him. I'm
going to meet him. No question about that. It's
appointed unto men once to die, but after this, the judgment.
We're going to meet him. Are you prepared? How shall we
escape if we neglect so great a salvation, the writer of Hebrews
said. I want to tell you just a few things
that I've learned. God never learns anything but
a few things that I've learned. I've learned that God is sovereign
in all things. He is sovereign in all things. In the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth, he doeth his will. He's sovereign
in all things. And I've learned that man's righteousnesses,
that is the best works that we can do, are goodness. We turn over a new leaf and we
try to do so well and attempt to do so good and that's good,
but all of those goodnesses in his sight are his filthy rags. Filthy rags. I've learned that. And I've learned
that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. It's not enough to be religious.
If being religious was the cure, all men would go to heaven because
all men are religious in some way or another. Jesus Christ is the only way
to God. There is no other way. I am the
way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I remember preaching a funeral
service a few years back, and after the service, a lady I didn't
know, I wouldn't recognize her today, but she came up to me
afterwards and she said, I appreciate so much John 14, 6, that you
use that in your message. She said, I attend funerals,
and most funerals preachers, they don't say that. In other
words, there's many ways all leading to the same place. But
that's not so. That's not true. There's one
way to the Father. I've learned that. Have you?
Have you? And I've learned something else.
I've learned that the Lord Jesus Christ, as great, as glorious,
as powerful as he is, that he is a willing savior. Not only able, he's that. For he is able. To save all that
come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession
for them. But I've learned he's not only
able, but he's willing to save. I've learned that the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is one who saw Jerusalem when he was
here in the flesh, and he knew what was coming upon Jerusalem. And he wasn't indifferent. He
wept at what he saw. He's a willing, loving Savior,
ready. There's a verse in, I believe
it's Nehemiah, when it speaks of God is ready to pardon. Ready to pardon. If you're not
pardoned today, God is ready to pardon. His mercy endureth
forever. And I've learned one last thing. I've learned and I'm still learning
to trust in Him. I used to sing a chorus up in
another church that we attended some, learning to lean, learning
to lean. I'm still learning to lean, to
trust in Him, to look to Christ for everything. I pray God would
bless the word today. These three simple words, change,
God doesn't change. Need, God doesn't need. Learn, He doesn't learn. But
all of those things are so true about you and me. We're going to stand and sing
a hymn, hymn number 126, Rock of Ages.