Rsbc Date of Sermon:
Series: The Unchangeableness of God
Subject: Sermon # 1
Text: Psa 102-25-27 Mal 3:6 James 1:17
Intro: When we speak of the unchangeableness of God we mean his immutability. In this introductory sermon I plan to preach several sermons as God leads on this great subject. First in introducing these verses this morning let me lay a foundation if I can concerning the fact that when I speak of God I mean the whole of the Godhead is unchangeable.
Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. I have not been able to locate a specific verse that says the Holy Spirit does not change, but rest assure he can no more change than any of the other two of the Godhead. When the world was created it was by Elohim, which is the plural name of God... Christ was present, the Holy Spirit was present and the Father was present.
What one has they all have for they are one in essence, one in character, one in attribute, complete unity. Yes they take on different roles in their work of man’s redemption and even in creation but they are the same.
I... “ THE CHANGEABLENESS OF THAT WHICH GOD HAS CREATED IN CONTRAST TO HIMSELF: Psa 102- 25-26
It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this out, it does not take a theologian to figure this out, it just takes a little common sense and looking around us and we see that reality everyday. We change from the moment we are born.
Of all that God governs, which is all things, he remains the same... “thou art the same”.
1st. He acknowledges that God laid the foundation of the earth: vs 25
Isaiah 48:12‑13 Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I [am] he; I [am] the first, I also [am] the last. 13 Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: [when] I call unto them, they stand up together.
And in all that God has created, and in all that God has touched it will change, but not the Lord. He is the same yesterday and today and forever.
2nd. The great fact acknowledged also in our text: vs 26 “They shall perish”
Isaiah 34:4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling [fig] from the fig tree.
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From the human observation we cannot with the naked eye behold the change in this great universe, but rest assure it is changing, and will ultimately meet a final change. When Christ comes the element shall melt with fervent heat. The earth shall pass away as the fading leaf, bank on it.
3rd. Just as the earth and all that God has created is waxing old and fading as leaf so does mankind... verse 21-24
The ancient Job said: Job 14:1‑2 Man [that is] born of a woman [is] of few days, and full of trouble. 2 He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.
The Apostle Paul said: 2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward [man] is renewed day by day.
We began to perish the day we are born. Some are born in somewhat seemly healthy conditions, they seem to be healthy for a few months and years, and yet the change has begun even in the mothers womb. Some are born dead, some are born and live relatively short lives. But others are given years and yet the truth remains they are changing.
Psalm 73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth: [but] God [is] the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
4th. The grand and glorious truth... “ Thou art the same” verse 27
Everything about God is the same, he has not changed and he will not change in character, in position, in his holiness and all of his attributes he is the same. All that God is which is everything is tied to his unchangeableness... So since he does not change nothing about him changes.
II... “GOD IS SEEN NOT TO CHANGE IN HIS DEALINGS WITH MEN”..
Malachi 3:6 For I [am] the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
1ST. The wonderful claim of God: “ I am the LORD” that is he is Jehovah. The self existing one.
In Geneses 15:7 In addressing Abraham the Lord said to him “ I am the LORD” reminding him that it was Jehovah that saved him and made the promises to him. This God has not changed and will not change.
In God dealing with Jacob that night he dreamed and saw the Ladder reaching to heaven this is what the LORD said to him.
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Genesis 28:12‑13 And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. 13 And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I [am] the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed;
In the midst of massive change of his people through out the book of Malachi, they question his love for them, in a time when they cease to honor the Lord as their heavenly father Mal 1:6 they despised his name, they polluted his altar, they profaned his name, they wearied the Lord, yet in all of this the LORD did not change in his love for them, he did not change in his parental guidance for them...and promise to make of his crown with some of them.
2nd. The profound blessing... “ therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed”.
This is a blessing, it shows that no matter what they did to him, said about him, how much they profaned his name, desecrated his altar, they could not provoke God into change, and because of his immutability they were not destroyed.
This is a wonderful display of his longsuffering and mercy. Psalm 86:15 But thou, O Lord, [art] a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
Paul said: Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
The Apostle Peter said that the Longsuffering of the Lord is salvation... that you can count on today, the LORD has brought you once again into this place and allowed you to sit under the gospel of Christ and here his name lifted up and that my friends is longsuffering and mercifulness.
III.. “THE SOURCE OF ALL THAT WE HAVE BOTH SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL COMES AS THE RESULT OF THE UNCHANGEABLENESS OF THE LORD:
James 1:17 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.
1ST. The inclusiveness of all good things:
Note that it is a gift and that it is good. What you and I have is from the father who in his immutability provides for his people. Jesus said that it rains on the just and the unjust. We must stop and realize the greatness of this verse... The Lord in his love for us provides in power and time what we need.
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Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
In this verse is a ton of spiritual wealth. God who is sovereign and holy and unchangeable gives out his wonderful gift of grace. This great gift that comes down from the father with whom there is no variableness or shadow of changing in the person of his son our savour the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to end this message this morning with three main thoughts concerning Christ.
1st. He came down...
John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven.
The decent from heaven in no way changed him, it meant he assumed humanity in order to fulfill his mission. Jesus in preaching to his crowds and his disciples said this about coming down from heaven.
John 6:38 “ He came to the will of him that sent him”
John 6:51 “ He came down from heaven as the living bread”
What a glorious day when the Lord Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday today and forever came down. He came down willingly, he came down knowingly, he came down.
2nd. He laid down..
1 John 3:16 Hereby perceive we the love [of God], because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down [our] lives for the brethren.
John 10:18 No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
What a day when Christ laid down his life for sinners. It was day of all days, it was a day when sins were nailed to his cross, it was a day that caused great pain both for the Lord and those that loved him, it was day of complete satisfaction to his father. It was day of the atonement, it was a day of everlasting hope brought in.
It was a day of utter darkness for three hours, it was day of great fear, it was day of unending results.. What a day to say the least... Christ the Lord died for us his people the sheep of his pasture, the elect of the Lord.
3rd. He sat down..
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Hebrews 1:3 Who being the brightness of [his] glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
The great work of the atonement was finished and Christ had done what he came to do, the devil was defeated and chained in those everlasting chains, held at bay by the work of calvary. The great work of reconciliation was complete.
The son of God know had seen the travail of his soul and seen his seed, the offering was accepted, the hope was secure. Christ had risen to lay claim to all that the father had promised him in the covenant of grace... There would be no change in the mind of the father, the alteration in thesons commitment, no slack of the work of the Holy Spirit.
This is all the result of the UNCHANGEABLENESS Of the Lord. You and I can rest on this, this morning. We can go home saved, safe, secure, and ready for heaven because GOD does not change his mind.
Hebrews 10:12‑13 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.