God is... Unchangeable

If you have a church Bible, it's on page 1011. Every gift, every good gift, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

Church. We've been looking at, during this term, really what the Bible teaches about God. We're using a summary from the Westminster Chorter Catechism in the 17th century.

What is God? God is spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. We're taking one word each time and trying to see what the scriptures teach about it.

And that is because the great design of your life and my life, the great design of this church, is to know God. One of the great problems of the church in the UK, the Christian church, is that we do not know God.

The book of Daniel says those who know God do great exploits. And so that's our desire. We've learnt from the word of God that God is spirit. God is a spirit who is infinite and eternal and unchangeable.

We saw that his infinity means that he is not bounded by space. He is everywhere present. There is nowhere that you can go to escape God. Last week we saw that he is eternal.

That means that he has no boundaries with time. He's not bounded in by time. And as we go through, we see that some of these attributes of God, his infinity, his eternality, his unchangeableness, they overlap.

And so some of the things that we're looking at this morning, we hinted at last week. Some things that we're looking at this week, we'll hint at in a couple of weeks. We live in a city, don't we, of constant change. There's change and there's transformation everywhere.

Places, even like West Ealing, are unrecognisable to what they were five years ago. There are changes. Some of them are great changes. Some of them are not.

You go to pubs. Somebody was bemoaning to me this week how pubs are changing. So many of them become coffee shops, haven't they? But the old-fashioned English pub is disappearing.

Places are changing. Greasy spoon cafes are disappearing to their shame. They've all become kind of coffee shops and are taking over the city.

There's change. Things don't change that stay the same, do they? You don't stay the same. People don't stay the same. We are changeable creatures. Well, today we look at God is unchangeable.

God doesn't change. Theological word for that is immutability. God is immutable. That's what we're looking at. The immutability of the God. The fact that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God in three persons, he is immutable.

He does not change. It's a bit of a fancy word, isn't it? But it's a good word. Immutable. So, children, when I was probably about 10 or 11, there was a cartoon.

People had it on their lunch boxes. They had T-shirts and tracksuits with these cartoons over. And it hints at this word immutability.

Mute. Mutant. Mutating. So, do you remember? And those of you who are my age, I don't know if it's still going, but there were teenage mutant ninja turtles, weren't they?

And the whole point of it was the turtles mutated. They changed into superheroes. And the word mutate means something like that, that something has changed.

So, when you put the two letters, I am, in front of that, in front of mute, it speaks of something that does not change. Something that cannot change.

And so, you and I, we are mutable. And we change all the time. But God is immutable. In an ever-changing world, particularly so at present, what we want to do is we want to understand something of the nature of God.

So, that we would rest in Him, that we would cast ourselves on this glorious truth that God is unalterable and unchangeable. He is immutable and He is immovable.

And so, I'm not going to speak about everything. This time would be too long. There are some of the questions that you might have about God being immutable. I'm not going to address. I've got no problems with that.

Come and talk to me afterwards. Maybe we'll return to them another time. But there are two points this morning. And we're going to spend most of our time in the first. The first point is this. God does not change.

That's the first point. And the second point is we must change. God does not change. We must change.

God does not. And God cannot change. He does not and He cannot change. And the Bible highlights that frequently. It highlights this characteristic of God.

That He doesn't change. That God does not evolve. God does not grow. God does not increase. And God does not decrease. God doesn't strengthen.

And God doesn't weaken. And while everything around us might ebb and flow. And come and go. God stands unchanging and immutable.

And that's why so often the Bible and the Psalms particularly so often speak and describe God as the rock of our salvation. He is the God who is, who was, and is, and is to come.

And so what I want to do for most of our time is to look at this. How is it that God does not change? What are the ways in which God does not change? Let's try and break it down.

First of all, God does not change in His character. He is unchangeable. He is unchangeable. Unchanging in His character. And so by this we're referring to His attributes.

What He's like as a whole. His essence. His perfection. His being. He's unchanging in His person. He is who He is forever. How unlike you and me.

Remember, this is one of those attributes that describes God and God alone. Some of God's attributes are true both of us and of Him.

And so goodness can be true of us and of God. Love. God is a God of love and we are to love one another. God is a God of wisdom and we are to show wisdom.

But there are other attributes which are only true of God. And so He is eternal. That isn't true of you. He is infinite. That isn't true of you. He is unchangeable.

The posh word for that is there are communicable attributes. Which are communicated to us. And there are incommunicable attributes. That are only true of God. And the fact that God is eternal means that that is an incommunicable attribute.

It is true only of God. Because you and I change all the time. We change all the time. Every birthday that comes around.

It is a reminder, isn't it, of the change that takes place within us. Day by day. Week by week. Month by month. Year by year. We change.

Trends of fashion change, don't they? Hairstyles change. Political opinions and fashions change. Personal finances change.

Personal finances change. We live in a culture of change. We're all changing. Some changes are for the better. Some changes are for the worse.

Some of us change, don't we, after a significant event in our lives. Becoming a parent changes people. Depression changes a person.

A stroke changes a person. Some of us, I'm sitting here this morning, we long for change. Maybe some of us are waiting for a report of a relative or a loved one.

For the result of tests. And people ask us, is there any change? Is there any change? Let's understand this. There is no change with God.

He is forever and eternally the same. God cannot improve or get better. He doesn't need to improve because he is perfect in his being.

Nor does he deteriorate. Or else he would remain perfect. He cannot change for the better. He cannot change for the worse. Let me give you a few verses.

You may want to write them down. Malachi chapter 3 and verse 6. For I, the Lord, do not change. Psalm 102 verse 27.

You are the same. And your years have no end. James 1 verse 17. We've just read it, hasn't it? He is the father of lights.

With whom there is no variation. Or shadow. There's no dimmer switch. No change. So do you see from the Old Testament to the new. From eternity past.

To eternity future. He's the same. This is true for all his attributes. Every single one of them. They are unchanging. These attributes describe God who is spirit.

He's infinite. And he's eternal. And he's unchanging. In his being. He's unchangeable in his being. He's unchangeable in his wisdom. He's unchangeable in his power.

He's unchangeable in his holiness. He's unchangeable in his goodness. He's unchangeable in his justice. Unchangeable in his truth. His unchangeability says something about everything else about him.

It says something about his holiness. And his power. And his sovereignty. And his wisdom. Every attribute of God is unchanging. Unchanging. J.I. Packer says this. He never becomes less truthful.

Less merciful. Less just. Or less good than he used to be. What encouragement that is to us. Because you know full well, don't you, that your life is full of change.

And your friends might change. Your relationship status might change. Your address might change. Your health might change.

But he changes not. Your children will change. And they'll move from being darling little babies.

We can hear them, can't we? To slightly difficult teens. To independent adults. And then they go off to university. Or they go off.

They leave home. They change. Are your jobs changed, don't they? They come and they go. Your money changes.

Doesn't remain constant. But he remains the same. It's in him that we live and move and have our being. And so when we approach the throne of grace today.

When we come to God and call on his name today in worship. We don't need to worry what kind of mood God is in. Because God is forever the same.

He has no mood swings. He's a rock and he is a fortress. And he is a refuge. Stephen Charnock, an old writer on the subject, said this.

What comfort would there be in praying to a God that like a chameleon changes color every moment? Children, you know what a chameleon is? You put it on a checked shirt and the chameleon changes into a checked shirt, that color.

You put him on a pair of blue jeans and the chameleon changes to that color. But God is not like that. God does not change. He doesn't change color every moment.

He is forever the same. And so that means we can rely on him. He's unchanging in his character. God always is what he was. And always will be what he is.

God always is what he was. And always will be what he is. He's unchanging in his being. Secondly, he's unchanging in his word. He's unchanging in his word.

We've seen over the last number of years, aren't we, that laws can actually be changed at great speed. And much of them, I'm sure, necessary. Much of them, not necessary.

And our ruling authorities have the power to change the law very, very quickly. Some laws are changed and they bring us sadness, don't they? They bring us disappointment.

And they bring us frustration. Laws regarding marriage. Or life in the womb. Earthly laws change all the time.

Some for the better and some for the worse. But God's law, his standards remain perfect and immovable. And so you have before us in your lap today the never-changing word of the never-changing God.

Let me give you a few verses that remind us of this truth. Psalm 119 and verse 89. Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.

Forever fixed in the heavens. Or Psalm 119 again. Verse 160. Every one of your righteous rules endures forever.

Or remember this one, Isaiah 40. The grass withers and the flowers fade. Said as mumbly as you possibly could, isn't it?

What that says to you every time we read God's word is this. You can bank your life on it. You can bank your life on the word of God. What he says in God's word will remain forever true.

He is more reliable. He is more up-to-date than tomorrow's newspaper. What the Bible says is right and will always be right. And what the Bible says is wrong will always be wrong.

God does not have a changing set of moral values. His standards remain forever the same. And this is true for his promises, isn't it?

We don't need to worry about a promise that's been made by God in Scripture, whether it's expired or not. So 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20, all the promises of God find their yes or they find their amen in Jesus Christ.

All that God has promised to do will and must come to pass. That is a great comfort, isn't it, to us as Christians? We find tremendous security and help and blessing when we turn from our changeable words and the changeable words of others to the unchanging promises of God.

I will never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus says, come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

The theme tune of the Bible, that I will be your God, and you will be my people, and I will be the God of your children. And so James, as we read it, says, if any of you lacks wisdom, anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously, and it will be given to him.

He's unchanging in his word. God is not going to go back on anything he said, anything he has promised. He's not going to turn around in eternity and say, I didn't really mean that.

I was kind of overstating it a little bit. It was hyperbole. He's unchanging in his word. The third way God is unchanging is he's unchanging in his plans.

He's unchanging in his plans. He's unchanging in his purpose, in his counsel, in his will. I don't know about you, but I'm forever changing plans. I'm forever changing plans.

I'm sure many of you have had really well-laid plans, and they've been turned upside down at the last minute. We know what that's like. House plans. Holiday plans.

Plans to sit exams. Plans to do this. Plans to do that. Our plans and our purposes, they change all the time, don't they? But God's plans do not change. God has planned from all eternity to save and elect a people for himself.

And no one has ever changed that plan. God did not make that plan in response to the fall. It was an eternal plan long before the fall, before time began.

God didn't create the world. Genesis 1 and 2, it's all very good. He sat there happily.

And then Genesis 3, what has gone wrong? God didn't put his head in his hands and think, oh, good grief, what have I done? My whole plan has changed. No.

No. His plan of salvation, he never has had to amend his plan. He doesn't change his plans or purposes in response to a new situation.

Nothing ever surprises him. He never rubs out his plan. He never has to amend his plan. He never has to add to his plan. So Psalm 33, verse 11, the counsel of the Lord stands forever.

The plans of his heart to all generations. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad that the counsel of the Lord stands forever? Isaiah 14 and verse 26, this is the purpose that is purposed concerning the whole earth.

And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations for the Lord of hosts has purposed and who will annul it. His hand is stretched out and who will turn it back? There's no such thing as plan B with God.

There's no emergency measures. There's no contingency plan. There's no exit route. No, his original plan and decree moves on day by day unhindered and unrivaled.

And so Kristen, as you look at your life and you look at the turbulent days in which we live in with so much change and so much chaos and so much uncertainty, we need to take ourselves where?

To the immutability of God. And we cast ourselves on the immutability of God. The one who is unchanging in his plans. And the fourth way, he's unchanging in his son.

He's unchanging in his son. Of course, it's the triune God who's unchanging. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The attributes of God, we've seen it again and again, haven't we? They are most clearly seen in his son, the Lord Jesus.

Jesus is the image of the invisible God. And just listen to what the scriptures say about the unchangeableness of Jesus Christ. Hebrews 13, verse 8, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Revelation 22, verse 13, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. He's the same. It's worth remembering, isn't it, that there was both a human and a divine nature in the one person in the incarnate Jesus Christ.

And while his human nature changed, the Lord Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with men. As his human nature developed, there wasn't the slightest change in his divine nature.

And so you can say from the cradle, to the cross, to the cave in which he's buried, Christ was always the immutable and changing God. And you can say that the Lord Jesus that we find in the pages of the New Testament is the same Jesus today.

The very same. The Lord Jesus still makes all things new. The Lord Jesus is still calling men and women and boys and girls to himself.

The Lord Jesus is still building his church. He is still the chief among 10,000. He is still the altogether lovely one. He is still the friend of sinners.

As the hymn writer puts it, it's that change and decay in all around I see, O thou who changest not. Abide with me. He's unchanging in his son and then in the fifth sense he's unchanging in his salvation.

That is to say this, the immutability, the unchangeableness of God is a great anchor. It's a tremendous anchor for your soul and mine.

Our great hope of salvation lies in this truth that God remains exactly the same. And God will do exactly as he said he will do. The Bible teaches that those on whom God has set his heart upon in eternity with electing love, he will most certainly bring about their salvation.

and he will keep them secure in his love and he will never let them fall away. We're going to Romans 8 tonight. I hope you'll come back. I'm doing a beginning of series on Romans 8 but at the end of Romans 8 in verse 30 it tells us this, that those whom God predestined he also called and those whom he also called he justified and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Do you see this golden chain, this chain of God's saving eternal purposes that we're just as certain for heaven as if we'd been there already 10,000 years?

Our eternal salvation is wrapped up in the God who does not change. It's wrapped up in the immutability of God and so what a truth to let your heart be filled with today that no matter what changes there are in your life or in the world the affections of God towards his children will never never change.

James Montgomery Boyce put it this way he said this God's attitude towards us now is the same as it was in the farthest reaches of eternity past and it's the same as it will be in the farthest reaches of eternity to come.

He has never loved us less and he will never love us more than how much he loves us now. What a truth that is isn't it?

I've talked to you about Geharis Vos before. Geharis Vos says how do you know that God will never stop loving you to the Christian? how do you know that God will never stop loving you?

And Geharis Vos says this because he never began loving you because scripture says that you have been loved with an everlasting love. It's beyond our comprehension isn't it but nothing can separate us from the unfailing unchanging love of God in Christ Jesus.

He is the rock of our salvation. So can you see how wonderful this attribute is? The immutability of God God does not he cannot change in his character in his word in his plans in his son in his salvation God does not and he cannot change.

But the second point is this we must change. We must and we can change. And we've already established we are not immutable.

and we constantly change. That's so obvious isn't it to all of us. And yet it does seem that very often we give in to the myth that somehow we can't change.

That somehow other people can change but it's really impossible for me to change. I can't change. This is who I am. The myth that goes around and we feed into that myth don't we by some of the things we say.

So if you've ever exchanged heated words with someone else you might have heard this that person says you you never listen to what I say or you you always do this I woke up my daughter this morning I won't tell you her name which one the middle daughter and I woke up in her room she wasn't particularly pleased to see me this morning and I gently woke her up and as I walked out the room she called to me on the stairs and she said you never shut the door on your way out.

Never. Do you know that? I didn't that but I said well I do occasionally shut the door. We say that don't we you're never ready on time.

We always have pasta for dinner. You always do that. You never do this but that isn't true in the slightest. We know that don't we? We're not that consistent. We might often do something or regularly do something or we might frequently fail to do something but finite creatures mutable creatures the word always or the word never don't really apply to us.

They can only be truly spoken of God. The point is we are not immutable. We do change. We can change.

We must change. Far too often when I'm confronted with my weaknesses and my failings and my sins and my response is often to say something like this listen that's just who I am.

That's my temperament. That's the way I'm wired. That's the way I was brought up. I can't really change that.

But that is a lie. that is a lie from the pit of hell. Whether we say it out of hopelessness or out of defiance, it is a lie to say that you cannot change.

Because there's only one person who does not change and that is God. You can change. And if you're listening to me right now and you don't know God, you haven't trusted in the Lord Jesus, you're not born again, you've not been converted and you're not a Christian, you need to know this, that you should be terrified of the immutability of God.

It is a wonderful thing for believers to think about it, but it should terrify unbelievers because you cannot expect, you cannot hope that the justice of God will change on the day of judgment or that the holiness of God will change on the day of judgment.

Some people say something like this, I'll take a chance with God. In fact, most people, they don't say it, but that's how they act. I'll be all right. God will let me in. I don't really care what the Bible says, but I will somehow get into heaven.

Maybe this God of yours who you preach about, maybe he'll go easy on me and he'll just let me in. But this is the God who never changes. He's unchangeable in his holiness and in his justice.

You know an ending torment in hell, will be the clearest proof to the unbeliever that God is truly unchanging. And if you're not saved here this morning, you need to know that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of almighty God, an unchanging God.

And you must change today. And so drastic is the change that the Bible calls for. The Bible describes it as being born again. How great a change is that? It describes moving from darkness to light, from death to life, from blindness to sight, from being lost to being found.

It's an immense change. You must change. You must be changed. And maybe you're sitting here and there's someone that you love and they need this change.

And you've been praying for decades, praying for them for years. and you need to know this, that there is no human heart in the world that is immutable, unchangeable. No human heart is immutable.

No human heart is so hard that God cannot soften it. The king's heart, prophet says, the king's heart is like a stream of water in the hand of the Lord and he can turn it whichever way he wills.

He can change your heart. And maybe for some of you listening, God has begun recently a work in your heart. when that happens, what they find is they find that their whole view of the world is changing.

Their interests change. Their desires change. Their friendships change. And they're nearly all good changes. But it can be a really unsettling time, isn't it, when God is at work in your life.

And maybe you're a new Christian, you've trusted in Christ and you're struggling and you feel unstable, where can stability be found, consistency, reliability? Will you come and throw yourselves not on the minister, not on us, but you throw yourselves on the God who changes not?

And some of you here are feeling tossed about to and fro and you need to cast yourself on the rock and you bring all your change to him. And you say, on Christ the solid rock I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand. So can you see then change in your life and mine. It's always possible. It's always possible.

And so maybe there's something in your life this morning, some trait, some characteristic, some habitual sin that you hate and you long to be free of it. And I need to say to you, change is possible.

I think we want to say this really clearly to our culture, don't we? I was chatting with a friend this week who's involved in working with people with addictions.

He's coming to speak in January to us and he said to me, Levy, how many people struggle with addictions in your congregation? I said, I won't tell him what I said, but I didn't say very many.

He said, Levy, do you know how many people struggle with addictions? The lot of them. The lot of them. And we keep it hidden, don't we? But if it's alcohol or if it's drugs or it's pornography, if you're struggling with sexual sin, if you're struggling with homosexual temptations, I need to tell you on the basis of God's word, change is possible.

What was it that Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians? Do you remember? He said it to people who'd been thieves, they'd been inside, they'd been drunkards, they'd been adulterers, they'd been homosexuals.

What was it that was said? 1 Corinthians 6, such were some of you, but you were washed, you were sanctified. In other words, you were changed. You and I can change. And I wonder whether we really believe that.

I wonder whether we really believe that by trusting in the Lord Jesus, by his Holy Spirit, he can grow fruit in you that wasn't there before. And you say, Paul, I'm not a patient person.

But you can change. I'm an angry person, I fly off the handle, you can change. I struggle constantly with thoughts of lust, you can change. Children, look up for a moment.

Do you remember we talked a bit about it at Sunday school? We can often think that the things that I struggle with, I'm going to struggle with for the rest of my life. It may be that you get really angry and you lose your temper.

It may be that you worry, you really worry. And every day is a battle, you go off to school really, really anxious, as you come home from school upset, you think things which you really hate thinking about others.

The lies that you tell. And the Bible tells us that as we look to Jesus and as we rely on his spirit, you can change. Your marriage, which is painful and difficult, it'll never change.

Don't listen to that voice. You parents, and you think this child will never get it. You can change. The eternal God is our refuge.

And maybe what's happening to you now is that God by his spirit is chipping away at you. So painful, he's chiseling, shaping you to be more like him. And Paul writes to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 3 verse 18, we are all with unveiled faces, behold the glory of God, and are being transformed.

That's what's happening. That's what God is doing. He is transforming us, shaping us from one degree of glory to another in an ever changing world. And so we cast ourselves, we rely on the unchanging grace of the unchanging God, to change us into the men and the women, the boys and girls that he wants us to be.

Or to put it another way, in this crazy world of change, the immutable God the Father, is changing us by his spirit to be more like his immutable son.

Though we might change and everything else around us might change, one thing is sure, he will not change. let's pray.