Untitled Sermon

In the text before us today we read one hefty, one glorious, one precious verse which states, in Malachi 3:6 “For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”

Upon the reading of this bare verse, you could ask yourself, “Who is this Lord? Where is His authority? What gives Him such power?” When I worked as an officer in SC, it wouldn’t be uncommon for me to be issuing a citation or condemning a property when I would hear the angry declaration, “What gives you the right?” To which I would simply point to my badge and then quote the law of the county as my staples of authority. But when it comes to Yahweh, there is no ordaining committee to oversee His power, there was no council to decree Him Lord, there was no group to ensure His behavior was quality. No, He is not some child or irresponsible worker needing oversight, He is the God of all Creation. So where does His authority originate? Within Himself alone. A few key declarations throughout Scripture of His might will be found in the following ways to declare His glory:

1.) He is the Sole Creator of Heaven and Earth. Gen. 1:1

Try to create more dirt, there is no way. Try to manufacture your own planet, it is impossible. See, the mountains themselves are crowned with snowy caps and even they lose them annually with rivers of tears running down their face but there is the One who has ordained and created all beauty, all power, all wonders and He is this God that we speak of today. He is the One who feeds the sparrow, He is the One that makes the waves to rest at His feet as a pup, He is the One who makes a rose to blush for His delight. Yes, He is the Sole Creator of Heaven and Earth with all of its splendor and beauty; it, even in its cursed condition, declares the glory and existence of the only true God, and by its work, no man is without excuse for the man in New York all the way to the child in the jungles looks and sees that there is a God as Romans 1 tells us.

2.) He is the Sovereign Authority Above All.

2 Timothy 6:14-16 “our Lord Jesus Christ: which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate [Dynastes- Sovereign Ruler], the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”

Psalm 115:3 “But our God is in the heavens: He hath done whatsoever he pleased.”

Isaiah 40:23 “That bringeth the princes to nothing; He maketh the judges of the earth as vanity.”

When we call Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, do we believe it? Or do we only use that when a politician we don’t support makes us mad? I must apologize to you, Church. Earlier this year, in my ignorance concerning the virus and haste to protect you, I abandoned my duty as your shepherd and we abandoned our gathering. Unless the virus finds itself into our fellowship we will never cease gathering again. Regardless of secular pressure from governing officials or skeptics, the Churches ONLY head is Christ the Lord (Eph 5) and His commandment to His people is that we gather together as a family (Heb. 10:25) Now, I know that the brethren of the assemblies around here will disagree with me by using Romans 13 and I would’ve agreed with them many months ago, however, that passage is prescriptive of a properly led government that our officials should aspire to achieve in leading our nation towards what is good but where they disagree with the One who built the Church and the One who ordained their office, we will follow the Lord. He is the sovereign, holy, and mighty ruler above all and He will lead this Church family. When our governments strive to keep alcoholic establishments and Planned Parenthoods open while focusing on the Church, we can safely say they have abandoned their given duty as described in Romans 13.

3.) He is the Self-Existent One

Illustration: Ella becoming independent.

In Exod 3:14–15 God tells Moses that He is “I AM THAT I AM”. This means that God’s existence is not caused by, or in any way dependent on, anything else. God is not from anything, through anything, or to anything. This is more even more clearly seen in Colossians 1:16-17 where we read,

“For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

While created things exist according to God’s power, purpose, and plan, God exists of himself. Created things are dependent on other things and, ultimately, on God; God depends on nothing. Before every created thing is some other thing, but God is first. Every created thing exists for the sake of some later thing, but God is last of all, the one for whom all things exist. God is utterly independent. As the self-existent God, He is not only independent in Himself, but also causes everything to depend on Him. This self-existence of God finds expression in the name Jehovah or Yahweh, which is what the word LORD in our text today means. So what does this mean? It means that God is God before us and will be God after us and if you want your soul to be stirred think about the beautiful fact that He absolutely does not need us! He doesn’t need us to make Him feel like God, He doesn’t need us to make Him God, He doesn’t need us to accomplish His glory but in the midst of all of this He wanted us as His people. Is that not mind blowing?

And so, as we return to our text for today, we should have our ears perking up as the text reads, “For I am the LORD” and our hearts should begin to almost have anxiety about the next statement. I mean, these people in Malachi are in rebellion, they are cold and indifferent towards God and they don’t care about Him. So, what do you think He’d say? Perhaps that He is the LORD full of wrath and fury? (Which is true). But no! The marvelous God of Heaven says, “I change not”.

Humans don’t like change do we?

ILL: one study had a group of people view a painting that they were told was done in 1905. The next group viewed the same painting but this group was told that the painting was done in 2005. The 1905 group rated the painting much more aesthetically pleasing than the other group. Why? The study found that people are more attracted to the long term stability and consistency of that painting. It hadn’t changed. But people change and they change rather easily. (Next story)

ILL: Nomophobia is the fear of losing cell phone contact. The results of a study from June 2014 might indicate that nomophobia is an epidemic in America these days. The research commissioned by Bank of America found that nearly half of Americans surveyed are willing to admit that they could not go a day without their smartphone. The number of people who said their phone was “very important” was even bigger. Nearly 90 percent of the respondents chose that answer, which was about the same number of people who said that their car and deodorant were very important as well. The study also found that 88 percent of adults aged 18 to 24 said they thought their mobile phones were more important to them than the Internet, deodorant, and even their toothbrush.

Addictions within the human mind are formed rather easily. And once the change is accepted whether it be alcoholism, drug abuse, or in this case cell phone abuse, we hate the idea of changing back.

Yet we look around at this rapidly changing world and just like those people with the paintings we like things to stay the same yet nothing is! But in this precious text we find that there is One who will never change and that is the marvelous God we have spoken about this morning.

1.) Now, We Must Note His Plans Do Not Change

-Isaiah 14:27 “For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?”

His Plans For Existence Do Not Change

Colossians 1:16 “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: for all things were created by Him, and for Him.”

Acts 2:22 “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23 Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: “

For Redemption Do Not Change

-JC Ryle said, “To say that all are equally right in their opinions is not Scriptural love. “Love” like this pours contempt on the Bible, and talks as if God had not given us a written standard of truth.”

His Holiness - Deut.32:4 “He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”

Oprah, Joel Osteen, Cancel Culture, Government redefining

And because His holiness is never changing He will never wink at sin. Therefore, there is only ONE way that we can be may right with God. Acts 4:12 “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Who is this? It is Jesus Christ who clearly says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

The plan of redemption has always been the same. There are not multiple Gospels. Romans 4:1-8, Ephesians 2:8-9, and Galatians 3:6-9 & 11 make this abundantly clear. It has been and always will be by grace through faith. This is non-negotiable; this is fundamental. Any deviation to this will result in a horribly unorthodox interpretation of the Scriptures.

Lastly, His Plans For Us, His People, Do Not Change

Romans 8:28-31, 35-39

Application in closing:

Because God is unchanging in Holiness I should be careful to not let myself become accepting of sin.

Because God is unchanging in judgement I should be caring of the lost around me.

Because God is unchanging in His love for me, I should feel free in Christ.