Immutable!

“For I, Yahweh, do not change;” Malachi 3:6

How many times have you found yourself changing your mind? As I have grown older and hope wiser, I have changed how I handle certain situations. As mere men and women, we can be very fickle. Just think how your taste in music has changed over the years. Take your Pastors taste in music. In   the late ’60s and early ’70s, I listened to heavy metal music like, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Uriah Heep. Then in the ’80s, it was Waylon and Wille. In the 90s, it was Christian Rock, and now it’s Hymns and Sovereign Grace music. Why such varied tastes in music? Because I change. Sometimes I change for the better, and sometimes, I change to my detriment.

However, God is never changing. He does not change who He is.  All of His attributes are the same from eternity past to      eternity future. His character never changes. Therefore, he   never gets “better” or “worse.” His plans do not change. His promises do not change.

The following is an excerpt from a Charles Spurgeon sermon titled, The Immutability of God. Preached on January 7, 1855

“Whatever the attributes of God were of old, that they are now; and of each of them we may sing “As it was in the beginning   is now, and ever shall be, world without end, Amen.” Was he powerful? Was he the mighty God when he spake the world out of the womb of nonexistence? Was he the Omnipotent when he piled the mountains and scooped out the hollow places for the rolling deep? Yes, he was powerful then, and his arm is unpalsied now, he is the same giant in his might; the sap of his nourishment is undried, and the strength of his soul stands the same for ever. Was he wise when he constituted this mighty globe, when he laid the foundations of the universe? Had he wisdom when he planned the way of our salvation, and when from all eternity he marked out his awful plans? Yes, and he is wise now; he is not less skillful, he has not less knowledge; his eye which seeth all things is undimmed; his ear which heareth all the cries, sighs, sobs, and groans of his people, is not rendered heavy by the years which he hath heard their prayers.

He is unchanged in his wisdom, he knows as much now as ever, neither more nor less; he has the same consummate skill, and the same infinite forecasting. He is unchanged, blessed be his name, in his justice. just and holy was he in the past; just and holy is he now. He is unchanged in his truth goodness, and generosity, and benevolence of his nature. He is not become an Almighty tyrant, whereas he was once an Almighty Father; but his strong love stands like a granite rock, unmoved by the hurricanes of our iniquity. And blessed be his dear name, he is unchanged in his love. When he first wrote the covenant, how full his heart was with affection to his people. He knew that his Son must die to ratify the articles of that agreement. He knew right well that he must rend his best beloved from his   bowels, and send him down to earth to bleed and die. He did not hesitate to sign that mighty covenant; nor did he shun its fulfillment. He loves as much now as he did then, and when suns shall cease to shine, and moons to show their feeble light, he still shall love on for ever and for ever. Take any one attribute of God, and I will write semper idem on it (always the same). Take any one thing you can say of God now, and it may be said not only in the dark past, but in the bright future it shall always remain the same: “I am Jehovah, I change not.”

We find peace and comfort in knowing that God is Immutable. He   is our Sovereign God who called us before the foundation of the World to be His, and because of that, we have the security knowing that who He called is justified and will be glorified ( 8:28-30).

Your shepherd,

Pastor Mark