One morning he walked into his studio and greeted him by saying, "Well, what's the good news today?"
Putting down his violin, the teacher stepped over to a tuning fork suspended from a cord and struck it and said, "There is the good news for today." He continued, "That, my friend, is the musical note "A." It was "A" all day yesterday, it will be "A" next week, and for a thousand years to come."
When you hear some folks talk about God, you know they do not know the God of the Bible.
Why do I say that?
Because the god they talk about is a god that changes from day to day. He is one thing today and something else tomorrow. THAT IS NOT THE GOD OF THE BIBLE!!!
WHAT MANKIND HAS DONE IS WE HAVE HUMANIZED GOD. That is, we have made Him like ourselves.
God does not change even though we live in a CHANGING WORLD.
Illus: I’ve often thought of those who have lived for the past 90 or 100 years and how much change they have observed.
For example:
What about changes in books? Did you know…
• No books were published until the year 1500?
• By the year 1900, 35,000 books were published each year?
• In 1995, 500,000 new books were published?
What about changes in speed? We live in a CHANGING WORLD!
• For the first 1800 years since Christ, the top speed was 20 miles per hour by horseback.
• The train came along and it jumped to 100 miles per hour.
• When the passenger jet came along in 1952, it whisked through the sky at over 300 miles per hour.
• By 1979 that speed had doubled to 600 to 700 miles per hour.
• Then the manned rockets came along a few years later and now they speed through space at about 20,000 miles per hour!
What about communication?
• From smoke signals we changed to telegraph
• From telegraphs to telephones
• From telephones to e-mail.
With all the changes each day it makes your head swim. If our forefathers could come back today and see all the changes what a shock they would experience.
Did you know, of these changes, many have proven to be GOOD AND MANY BAD!!!
Sociologists are careful to point out the devastating effect of all this on humanity.
That is, such constant and rapid change is leaving mankind with a feeling of instability and insecurity.
Illus: There’s a feeling by many that we have cut loose from our anchors and are drifting along, as though pulled by the current of change.
This produces confusion and fear.
Many of the changes that we experience have proven to be GOOD. But some of the changes in this changing world have proven to be BAD.
For example…SIN HAS NOT CHANGED!!!
Sin is still sin, men have tried to change it by changing it’s name.
For example:
• They call adultery “an affair.”
• They call homosexuality a “gay lifestyle.” God calls it an abomination
• The abortionists are not called baby killers; they are now called woman’s rights doctors
• Alcoholism is now called a disease
• Greediness is now good business
• Cursing is now adult language
• Drunks are now called alcoholics
• Whores are now called escort girls
• Illicit sex is now free love
Changing the wording doesn’t change the sin. SIN IS STILL SIN!
Look what God’s Word has to say about this in Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”
Illus: Years ago Johnny Cash sang a song called “A Boy named Sue” Now you cannot help but think that a boy named Sue would want to change his name.
But sin no matter what MODERN MAN CALLS…IT IS STILL SIN!!!
SIN HAS NOT CHANGED; WE JUST CALL IT BY ANOTHER NAME.
You have heard that old saying, “A rose by any other name is still the same.”
I have told you about the bad part of change, but let me tell you the good part about changes.
For example, since we are imperfect creatures, we need the ability to change if we are going to improve.
God’s Word tells us once we receive Christ we change from a sinner to a saint.
2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
This is the evidence that we have been born again; we change from a life of sin to becoming a NEW CREATURE!
But listen, that is not the way it is supposed to be with GOD. If He changes one iota, we are all in trouble. That would mean that He is not God, but that He is like we are.
People have tried to humanize God to become like humans but the Bible does not teach that…Look at James 1:17, we read, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
That scripture is telling us that God does not change in the slightest. What God is today He will be the same tomorrow.
Notice, God is referred to as FATHER OF LIGHTS.
Illus: We are familiar with lights as 30, 40, 50, 75, 100, or 200 watts.
In other words in these different kinds of light there is variation. Some are brighter than others.
For example, in this auditorium it is well lit. But actually there is variation of light in this auditorium. That is, the open areas of the auditorium are better lit under these lights than in corners.
The brightest light that is known to man is the sun. It is so bright that you and I cannot bear to look at it.
God is the Father of lights and one reason we Christians are going to have to get a gloried body is because we cannot look at God’s brightness in these mortal bodies.
God is the Father of lights and the Bible says, “No varibleness or neither shadow of turning.”
• There was never a time when God was not, and there will never be a time when God shall cease to be.
• All that He is today, He has ever been, and will ever be.
• THERE HAS NEVER BEEN ANY VARIATION, NEITHER SHADOW OF TURNING.
• Whatever God was in eternity He is today. He never has differed from Himself. He does not become something, nor does He lose something. God is uninfluenced by the flight of time.
One of the attributes of God is that God is perfect!!!
Illus: When I think of being perfect I think of that television program that was called HAPPY DAYS. One of the characters in that series was a young man called the FONZ!!! This was a cool dude!
He was looking in the mirror one day at himself and he began to comb his hair. He pulls his comb out of his back pocket and holds the comb in his hand looking for a spot to comb. He looks on this right side and the left side and still holding the comb in his hand never combs his hair. He sticks his comb back in his pocket like you cannot improve on perfection.
God is PERFECT and if He did change it would have to be for the worst and if He changed for the worse HE COULD NOT BE GOD.
Now one of these days we are going to spend eternity with Him who is IMMUTABLE!
Every Christian should desire to know about the God Who is IMMUTABLE. If for no other reason than for curiosity, we all, as Christians, should be striving to know everything we can know about the God Who never changes.
Why? Like I said we are going to spend eternity with Him; we should at least be curious about Him.
Illus: Probably every married man and woman can remember how, as children, they thought about the person they were going to spend their lives with in marriage. Before we met that very special person in our lives, we all wondered:
PICTURE
• What does that person look like?
• Does this person live in this city or some other city?
• What is that person doing presently?
• Have I ever met this person?
• What color eyes does this person have?
• What color hair does this person have?
We had all these questions in our minds, floating around, about the person we were going to spend our life with.
Illus: Just suppose that before you met that very special person, someone who knew that person could answer some of the questions that you had. Would you have been interested in hearing what that person had to say? Yes, you would!
The Word of God can tell us a great deal about God we are going to spend eternity with.
For example, let’s look at...
I. THE IMMUTABLE GOD OF THE BIBLE
When we say that God is immutable, we are saying that GOD NEVER CHANGES. NEVER! NEVER! NEVER!
He never changes FOR THE BETTER, or FOR THE WORSE. He cannot if He is the God of the Bible.
The Bible says clearly in Malachi 3:6 says, "For I am the Lord, I change not..."
Let me show you three ways the scripture tells us that it is important that God CHANGES NOT!
A. HIS PROMISES DO NOT CHANGE
The Bible is filled with thousands of promises, and no one can ever point a finger at God and accuse Him of not keeping any of His promises…NO ONE!
Men might make a promise one minute, and break it the next. God says, concerning His promises, "For I am the Lord, I change not..." We depend upon that stability!
Americans despise politicians who "flip flop" on what they promise. We want politicians to represent us who will say something, and stand behind what they say, even if it is unpopular.
Illus: When George Bush was running for the office of president of the United States in 1992, national television made these words of his, famous, "Read my lips - NO NEW TAXES!"
But, he reneged on his promise, and when it came time for re-election, the people did not forget about his broken promise. They voted someone else in as president.
Many of the political analysts believe that people felt if he could not KEEP his promise, he did not deserve a second term.
Why? It is a terrible thing when the President of the United States makes a promise to the American people and does not keep that promise.
Illus: When President George Bush promised the American people NO NEW TAXES, many businessmen made certain decisions for their businesses based on that promise, and when he broke his promise, the cost to those businessmen was astronomical. Many had to lay workers off and cut back every way they could.
The Bible contains thousands of promises, and God has never broken one of them. We can depend upon His keeping His promises!
Illus: For example, God's Word says, "Whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved."
Look at that word “Whosoever”. Now suppose God, having made that promise, had a lowly sinner come to Him for salvation and said to him,
• "No, I am not going to save you. You have lived all your life in sin and now here you are on your death bed wanting me to save you."
• The man then says, "But You promised 'Whosoever' would call on You, You would save him, and that 'Whosoever' means me!"
• Then suppose God would say, "I know I said that, but I am going to have to break that promise when it comes to you".
We would be without hope if that were the case.
God has promised to save "Whosoever" would come to Him for salvation, and He has kept His promise to everyone who has come!
If God broke one promise, no one could really place genuine faith in Him because then we would not know if He would or would not do it AGAIN!
Every promise in the Word of God is as good today as it was when it was first placed in the cannon of Scriptures.
We read in 1 Kings 8:56, "Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, ACCORDING TO ALL THAT HE PROMISED: there HATH NOT FAILED ONE WORD OF ALL HIS GOOD PROMISE..."
The scripture teaches us that when the IMMUTABLE GOD OF HEAVEN makes a promise, HE KEEPS THAT PROMISE!
Again, the problem today with most Christians is that they try to make the DIVINE GOD OF HEAVEN, LIKE US HUMANS, and we know that human promises are not always good.
Illus: There was a day when you could do business by taking a man's word, and a handshake, but now you have to make him sign the dotted line, and still many will not keep their promise.
The God of the Bible is IMMUTABLE, which means God keeps every promise He has ever made. He said, "For I am the LORD, I CHANGE NOT..."
HIS PROMISES DO NOT CHANGE!!!
Also, because He is that kind of God, notice...
B. HIS DECREES DO NOT CHANGE
That is, the same thing HE DECREED thousands of years ago, still stands today.
We have also tried to HUMANIZE God when it comes to His decrees.
Illus: What we have tried to do is the same thing that many children do to their parents.
The parents will DECREE certain things, but the children think, "I know what I will do. I will change that decree," and they set out to do it in a number of ways.
• They POUT, hoping that will cause their parents to change the DECREE.
• They will COMPARE their parents to their friend's parents who they like.
• They will try and make their parents feel SORRY for them.
• They will FUSS for weeks, hoping to wear them down.
Sometimes, after all the POUTING, COMPARING, FEELING SORRY FOR THEM AND FUSSING, finally the parents throw in the towel and say, "All right, go ahead and do as you please!"
That does not work with God. It does not matter how much we POUT, COMPARE, FEEL SORRY FOR YOU OR FUSS, God does not change!
Did you know that what was a sin a thousand years ago is still a sin today?
We all know people who would not do certain things years ago because it was sin, but they have changed:
• They do not dress the way they used to dress.
• They do not talk the way they used to talk.
• They go places now that they would not go to before.
• They did not watch on tv what they watch now.
But what used to be a sin is still a sin today!
Has God changed? No, they have changed!
• Psalm 33:11 says, "The counsel of the Lord standeth FOR EVER, the thoughts of his heart TO ALL GENERATIONS."
• Also look at Psalm 119:89, "For ever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven."
We have many translations and paraphrases of the Bible today that are being placed on the market and this should concern preachers who love and preach the Word of God.
Why?
Because some of these translations, and some paraphrases, change the Word of God by ADDING THINGS and by DELETING THINGS.
Up until the late 50’s and 60's this was no problem, because most of the churches preached and taught out of the translation that is known as the King James Version. In fact, if you preached out of anything except that, then you would have been run out of the church.
There are some good translations out there, BUT there are some bad translations also.
Pastors across this nation are doing a poor job today of educating God's people that some translations leave out some very fundamental things that the Word of God teaches, such as: The virgin birth, The redemptive blood of the Lord, The word "perish," The words "resurrection and "Fasting," etc.
We could go on and on listing things that many translations are leaving out of the Holy Word of God. As we continue to allow these bad translations to get into the hands of God's people, disguised as the Word of God, we are going to have some major confusion.
Why? Because it is confusing when it looks like God's Word changes from year to year.
When people get used to all kinds of translations, all saying something different, then you have a lot of Christians scratching their heads, wondering which one is the Word of God.
In spite of the fact that there are all kinds of translators ADDING TO and DELETING things from God's Word, GOD'S WORD HAS NOT CHANGED ONE IOTA!
The Word of God does not need to be re-written - IT NEEDS TO BE REREAD!
In Psalm 33:11, we read, "The counsel of the Lord STANDETH FOR EVER, the thoughts of his heart TO ALL GENERATIONS.” And again, "FOR EVER, O LORD, THY WORD IS SETTLED IN HEAVEN."
God is not like humans. GOD IS IMMUTABLE!
• His promises do not change.
• His decrees do not change.
Also...
C. HIS LOVE DOES NOT CHANGE
We all have heard folks say, "God is mad at me. He does not love me anymore!" When you hear a person say that, you can rest assured he does not know the God of the Bible.
Jer. 31:3, "Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee."
The reason people think God does not love them anymore, is because they have HUMANIZED Him and they think He is like humans.
Illus: We see couples today who seem to be madly in love with each other, when only a short time later, they cannot stand the sight of each other.
What happened? We hear them say, "We no longer love each other." The fact is that they never really loved each other to begin with.
Illus: To listen to this crowd today, you would think love came out of a faucet, and you can just turn it off and on.
That is the kind of love that most people are familiar with and see every day. But God wants us to know that His love is not that kind.
Jer. 31:3, "...Yea, I have LOVED THEE WITH AN EVERLASTING LOVE..."
People should not state that God does not love them.
What they should be saying is, "I cannot understand why He loves me!"
• HIS PROMISES do not change,
• DECREES do not change,
• HIS LOVE does not change.
We have looked at THE IMMUTABLE GOD OF THE BIBLE, but in closing let’s look at…
II. THE INFLEXIBLE GOD OF THE BIBLE
James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
God does not bend, compromise, or waver in the slightest! God cannot change! Why? The answer is simple:
A. IF HE CHANGED, HE WOULD BE A PERSON
We mortals are always changing. We should strive to change for the better. God is perfect. He does not change.
So, God wants to assure us that HIS PROMISES, DECREES, AND HIS LOVE IS NOT LIKE OURS. He is IMMUTABLE!
IF HE CHANGED LIKE US, THAT WOULD SIMPLY MEAN HE IS LIKE US!
B. IF HE CHANGED, HE WOULD NOT BE PERFECT
What is perfect cannot change and still be perfect. God is perfect. He cannot change FOR THE BETTER, and since He is the Holy God of Heaven, He CANNOT CHANGE FOR THE WORSE.
Conclusion:
Does the god you serve change from day to day? I hope you say, "No!"
If the god you serve changes from day to day, then you do not know the God of the Bible. GOD IS IMMUTABLE!
I. THE IMMUTABLE GOD OF THE BIBLE
II. THE INFLEXIBLE GOD OF THE BIBLE
Immutability is one of the attributes of God, one of those characteristics that describe his essential nature. To say that God is immutable is to say that He never differs from Himself. He cannot change for the better since He is perfectly holy neither can God change for the worse.
It is impossible for Him to change in any manner!
