Malachi 3:6
Things That Never Change
Introduction
Last week we looked at this passage and considered that in the midst of a world and culture that is constantly changing, it is comforting and assuring that God never changes. He will never change in His great love for man. He will never change how He feels about sin, and He will never change His plan of salvation. He truly is a wonderful, unchanging God!
Today I want to continue in this line of thinking by giving you a few more things about God that never change. Let’s read our text again before we consider them.
“For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
Remember that we said that God made this statement concerning His unchanging love for His people Israel. God was referring to His own qualities of patience, long-suffering and mercy when He said, “I am the Lord, I change not…” Are you thankful today that God hasn’t changed in these qualities? You ought to be – if God weren’t patient or long-suffering or merciful, then we might know the fates of people like Achan, who stole the gold and silver in the battle of Ai, or Uzzah, who put out his hand to steady the ark of God, or Ananias and Sapphira, who lied about the profit they made from the sale of their land. Every one of these people died when they sinned against God, sins no different from the ones you and I commit very frequently.
If God weren’t long-suffering with us He might have punished us a long time ago for our disobedience and hard-heartedness. God wouldn’t put up with the junk that we dish out to Him, testing and trying His love and grace in our lives. When He speaks and reveals some truth to us and we are slow to act or don’t act at all – God is so long-suffering, and His mercy is so far beyond our comprehension. If there’s anyone in the room today who came to worship – then you’ve got great reason to worship today! You serve the God who never changes!
Let me show you something pretty awesome about your God that you may have never considered. God doesn’t change, but it’s not that He can’t change. If He couldn’t change then He limited, and our God has no limits. He is infinite in every way. He has no boundaries, there’s nothing He can’t do if He so chooses. Psalm 115:3 says,
“But our god is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.”
Psalm 135:5-6 says,
“For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.”
You see, God does not change because He cannot change; Jesus Himself said that all things are possible for God. So, if God doesn’t change, and He doesn’t, it is not because He can’t, but rather that He won’t. There lies the beauty of it! Concerning the people of Israel, Moses wrote, “He will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which He sware to them.” Do you notice that wonderful little four letter word? He will not forsake…He will not destroy…He will not forget…! He didn’t say that He couldn’t do those things – He said that He wouldn’t do them.
The psalmist said that God will not cast off His people. What does all that say about your God? If you say He can’t change, then you limit Him. If you say that He won’t change – then you have just declared the wonderful faithfulness of God! The Lord is faithful and He does not change!
He told you He would not change, and if God says He will not change, then He’ll not change! If God changed then He would be a liar, but Numbers 23:19 says that “God is not a man, that He should lie.” Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” Jesus doesn’t just know the truth or just teach the truth, He is the truth! If God has ever changed or ever did change, then He lied, and if God lied then He’s not faithful, and if He’s not faithful then He’s not trustworthy, and if He’s not trustworthy then why would you place your faith in Him? If you couldn’t believe Him or trust Him or place your faith in Him then we ought to just go home. But He is the Lord, and He doesn’t change!
God Doesn’t Change In His Attributes
He is the omnipotent God! He was the mighty God when He spoke the Creation into existence. He was the all powerful God when He plagued the nation of Egypt, when He parted the Red Sea and the Jordan River. He broke up the firmaments and flooded the earth. I read of the God who consumed a prophet’s altar, who stood with three young men in a furnace, who stopped the mouths of lions, who healed the sick, fed the multitudes, raised the dead, and picked Himself up out of the grave. Is He any less omnipotent today? Is God less powerful now than He ever was? Has He grown weaker or less mighty through the ages?
He is an independent God! God doesn’t need us or the rest of creation for anything. We mentioned the self-existence of God last week. God is absolutely independent and self-sufficient. Think about what Paul said to the men of Athens, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all men life and breath and everything.” God has never needed anyone or anything. In Psalm 50:12 He said, “If I were hungry, I would not tell you: for the world is mine, and everything it contains.” He is completely independent and will always be so.
How many of the wonderful attributes of God would we need to consider? Could we question His timelessness? God had no beginning or ending. He lives in an eternal present, and He alone can proclaim,
“For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose.”
Will God ever cease to be omnipresent? Omniscient? Would God change in His attributes of goodness or love? Perhaps He would be less merciful or holy. Can you imagine a God who ceased to be righteous? A God who changed His mind about justice and wrath? Who would be less than perfect? Less glorious than He already is? With great certainty and faith we can declare with profound joy and admiration for our God, “You are the Lord, you do not change!”
God Doesn’t Change In His Purposes
What did we say is the chief purpose of God? It is to glorify God and enjoy Himself forever. That purpose has never changed and it never will! What is God’s purpose for man? It is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God wanted Adam to glorify and enjoy Him. He wanted Abraham to glorify and enjoy Him. That’s what He wanted from Moses, from David, from Daniel, from Peter and James and Mary and Martha and from you and me. That’s what He wanted from Israel, and He punished them over and over because they were so self-absorbed that they wouldn’t do it. Think about it! What does the Lord want from His churches? Ephesians 3:21 declares…
“Unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end.”
Unto Him be what? Obedience? Service? Worship? No! Unto Him be glory! We are so busy thinking about all we need to do for God, as though His existence or happiness is dependent on our doing something. God doesn’t need anything from us – but He wants glory. Now, how does He get glory? Through our obedience, but obedience motivated by hearts of love and gratitude. He gets glory from our worship, but not worship in vain. God is not glorified by our empty singing and passive sitting or thoughtless prayers. Worship is that which comes from the heart and the head – it is the heart that cries out for a moment with the Creator, the heart that expresses a desire to be with God for no other reason than to just be with God! He gets glory from our service, but again, not service that is motivated only by duty.
Imagine that last week I took Kathy out for our anniversary and gave her a dozen roses, and she said, “Oh, Kevin, thank you for the roses and for the evening together! It was very beautiful!”, to which I replied, “Don’t think anything of it, it was my duty.” Is there glory in that? Does Kathy receive anything honoring from my “duty?” Hardly! But now imagine that Kathy said all of that and I said, “Kathy, there is nothing more I would rather do than to be with you this evening and express my love for you.” Why should we think God is any different? Why are you here this morning? Is it your Christian duty? Or are you here because there is nothing you would rather do than to express your love for God and your desire to be with Him? Be honest! There is nothing more delightful to God than for you to delight yourself in Him, in fact, He told you to do it. Psalm 37:4 says,
“Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart.”
People use that verse as some kind of name it claim it verse. If you delight yourself in the Lord then you’ll get this or that. That’s all wrong! Delight yourself in the Lord – He is your delight, your chief desire, and if you delight yourself in Him, then what will He give you? Himself! “But without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” “As the dear pants for the water,” the psalmist said, “so my soul longs after you God.”
Listen, God’s purposes will never change. I want to plead with you to see all of your Bible reading through those lenses. You read and watch how God interacts with men and women and with nations and peoples throughout history – His purpose has always been to be glorified, and that will be His purpose in eternity future.
God Doesn’t Change In His Promises
Don’t you love to hear about the wonderful promises of God? Imagine for a moment that God could change concerning His promises. If even one of them could be changed, then we wouldn’t talk about any of them! If even one promise of God were to change, then I would say throw out your Bibles and forget it all!
All the Bible’s great covenants rest firmly on God’s unchanging character. Did He promise that He would never again flood the earth? Did He not promise that He would make a great nation of Abraham? That He would bless him and make his name great? Did not God say that David’s kingdom would be established forever and that one of his own would sit on the throne?
God has promised…
· To be with you when you are afraid
· To help you make daily decisions
· To forgive you when you sin
· To help you through your worst of days
· To supply all your needs
· To strengthen you in trial and temptation
He told the disciples that He was going away, but that they shouldn’t sorrow. Why? Because He was coming again to receive them unto Himself. He said that if you are weak and heavily burdened you should come to Him. Why? Because He will give you rest. He said that you don’t have to be anxious about what you will eat or wear. Why? Because He’ll provide all your needs.
God’s promises are just as sure as His purposes, His attributes or anything else about Him. If He could change in just one thing then He could change in them all.
Conclusion
Someone once said, “Great God, how infinite you are, what worthless worms we are!” I don’t know about us being worms, but you can be sure of the greatness of God! The great preacher Charles Spurgeon told his congregation one time…
“The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, “Behold, I am wise.” But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height…No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God… But while the subject humbles the mind it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than the man who simply plods around this narrow globe.”
To be sure, Spurgeon is correct. The more I consider the unchanging character of God the more impressed I am with Him and I am moved to greater heights of love and admiration for my heavenly Father who loves me so. But lest you leave this place today thinking that we have only come to make a dry appeal to your intellect, let me protest. If you came today with nothing on your mind other than to fulfill your religious duty for the week and you leave being unmoved by the majesty of God, then you have missed the point all together!
If you have never placed your faith in Christ the Savior, you should know by now that there is none so trustworthy as He is. In this world of shifting values and beliefs, when things around you are so shaky and the very life you live gives you no assurance of tomorrow, you are compelled to run to the only hope you have, Jesus Christ. It was for you that He came to this earth and lived a sinless life. It was for you that He gave His body to be beaten and bruised and crucified. It was for you that He was buried and rose again – and it is for you that He moves me to plead with you for your lost soul! Recognize your lost condition today and come to the Savior!
Child of God – you who have entered that wonderful relationship with the Lord, do you know the God who has saved you? Has your heart been moved at all? How do you sit week after week unmoved by the wonderful Word of God? How can we be so stoic and reserved? Your God is worthy of your praise and worship and adoration! He longs to be desired, and the more I recognize His beauty, His beauty in His unchanging character, the more I am moved to loving desire for intimacy and fellowship with Him! How long has it been since you were moved by the wonderful character and nature of God? How long has it been since you have known that burning desire to be with God? Not to do for Him, not to talk for Him, not any of that, but simply to be with Him? If you are not close to the Lord today, let there be no doubt as to which of the two of you has moved – will you return to the Lord today?
