God Cannot...
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Good morning, CHURCH!
(Opening joke)
So, I might have to rethink the whole talking to everyone after service thing.
Or maybe I just need to put an age limit on it.
You know that the younger you are and the older you are, you don’t seem to have a filter.
Kids will just say anything sometimes and so will the elderly.
It takes some years to get your filter and then it only last for so long.
One Sunday after service an older lady came up to me and she said, “Pastor J, would you like to know the secret to a great sermon?”
I said, “Well of course I would like to know the secret to a great sermon.”
She said, “A great sermon needs to have 3 parts. A good beginning, a good ending, and it needs to have them as close together as possible.”
(Pause)
“You’re pretty good at that beginning and ending thing but they aren’t quite close enough together yet.”
Are you ready to be equipped today?
Let me see your Bibles.
Let’s go to the book of James 1:17 for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.
This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination
James 1:17 ESV
This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination
James 1:17 ESV
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.
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.
It was common to Jewish and Greek wisdom, that God was the author of everything good.
They used terms like Father of lights to refer to the creator of the stars or from above to mean from God.
And it was clear to them that this doesn’t change about God.
But we know that their are a lot of deceived people whom blame God for bad things that happen to them or in this world.
Bible believers, believe differently. We believe that God is responsible for the good and the enemy or mankind not following God are responsible for the bad.
Today I’m starting a new series and it is going to be a series meant to build your faith, hope, trust and love for God.
Society is always eating away at these things, undermined by Satan himself.
The new series title is:
God Cannot...
God Cannot...
By focusing on things God cannot do, we will be able to lock in on what he really does for his children.
Today’s message title is:
God Cannot Change
God Cannot Change
This is referred to as the immutability of God or the unchangeability of God.
The Bible is very clear that God does not change, neither His mind, His will, nor His nature.
In this lesson we will discuss why this is a benefit to his children that he cannot change.
God not changing is one of his many great attributes.
Some of the other attributes of God are that He is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, wisdom, power, holy, merciful, patient, just, good and full of grace and truth.
These attributes benefit those in right standings with God.
And ultimately, they will be a detriment to those who will not repent and follow God.
We saw a great example of what God’s unchangeableness leads to when people repent in Jonah.
(Pastor J I thought Jonah gave us an example of God actually changing.)
God had sent Jonah to tell the people of Nineveh that in 40 day he would destroy them because of how they lived.
The King of Nineveh believed Jonah and called a fast for everyone in Nineveh.
Jonah 3:9 ESV
Jonah 3:9 ESV
Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
The King of Nineveh thought God might change his mind and not destroy them because they repented and fasted.
What the King of Nineveh didn’t understand was that it was God’s desire all along that the people of Nineveh repent.
This was in no way a change in who God was. This was a part of the nature of our loving God all along.
When God changes his decisions, it doesn’t change who HE is or his being.
We also see in Malachi how the unchangeableness of God benefitted the people.
Malachi 3:6 ESV
Malachi 3:6 ESV
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Listen to this in The Message Translation.
“I am God—yes, I Am. I haven’t changed. And because I haven’t changed, you, the descendants of Jacob, haven’t been destroyed.
You have a long history of ignoring my commands. You haven’t done a thing I’ve told you. Return to me so I can return to you,” says God-of-the-Angel-Armies.
Isn’t it a wonderful thing that God can’t change the fact that he is patient with us?
Numbers 23:19 ESV
Numbers 23:19 ESV
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
This was an account of Balak trying to get Balaam to convince God to revoke his blessing on the Israelites.
Basically God was like, “I’m not like humans in the sense that you can buy my decisions or manipulate me to change.”
Once God has struck a covenant or made a decree, he doesn’t change.
We can change and, in many instances, we need to change.
But God doesn’t need to change.
We see the same thing said of God in Isaiah.
Isaiah 46:9-11 ESV
Isaiah 46:9-11 ESV
remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
11 calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.
The one true God can’t be compared to all of the other things than man worships like they are gods.
He is telling them to remember the former things.
God’s track record is perfect.
If he summons a bird it obeys.
Whatever he sovereignly dictates will come to pass.
Now from a logical viewpoint, we are going to look at three reasons God cannot change.
Point #1
Point #1
God is not bound by time.
God is not bound by time.
First, if anything changes it must do so in some chronological order.
There must be a point in time before the change and a point in time after the change.
Therefore, for change to take place it must happen within the constraints of time.
However, God is eternal and exists outside of the constraints of time.
John 17:5 ESV
John 17:5 ESV
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
2 Timothy 1:9 ESV
2 Timothy 1:9 ESV
who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
And as eternal and independent of time, which is the “form” of change and mutability, He cannot be subject to any change at all.
God’s unchangeableness, therefore, flows from His self-existence throughout eternity.
Why is this important for you to know?
This is important for you to know so that when you put your hope in him and his promises, you can be sure that he can’t change and he won’t change just because it’s you.
God is complete and perfect in Himself and is not the result of any process of self-realization.
(God will never realize that something about himself needs to change.)
He is so great that His relationship to the created universe cannot begin to exhaust His Being.
And yet He stands in the closest relations to you and I as Creator, Preserver, Ruler, and Savior.
Point #2
Point #2
God is already perfect.
God is already perfect.
If anything changes it must change for the better or the worse.
Because a change that makes no difference is not a change.
For change to take place, either something that is needed is added, which is a change for the better, or something that is needed is lost, which is a change for the worse.
But since God is perfect, He doesn't need anything.
2 Samuel 22:31 ESV
2 Samuel 22:31 ESV
This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
Why is his way perfect?
Because he is perfect.
God is so perfect, and this verse is so perfect that it was repeated in Psalm 18.
Psalm 18:30 ESV
Psalm 18:30 ESV
This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.
God is perfect and therefore has no need to change.
Whatever changes requires something new and usually to improve on something.
God cannot change for the better.
Nor can He change for the worse.
Point #3
Point #3
Change for what?
Change for what?
When someone changes his/her mind, it is often because new information has come to light that was not previously known.
Or maybe the circumstances have changed that require a different kind of attitude or action.
But because God is omniscient, He cannot learn something new that He did not already know.
No circumstances catch him by surprise.
1 John 3:20 ESV
1 John 3:20 ESV
For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
For whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
Proverbs 15:3 ESV
Proverbs 15:3 ESV
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.
Isaiah 40:28 ESV
Isaiah 40:28 ESV
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.
So, when the Bible speaks of God changing His mind, it must be understood that the circumstance or situation has changed, not God.
So when Exodus 32:14 and 1 Samuel 15:11–29 talk about God changing His mind, it is simply describing a change of dispensation, and outward dealings, toward man.
We read Numbers 23:19 earlier and it is very clear.
Numbers 23:19 ESV
Numbers 23:19 ESV
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
No, God does not change His mind. These verses affirm the doctrine of God’s immutability: He is unchanging and unchangeable.
Exodus 3:14 ESV
Exodus 3:14 ESV
God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God said to Moses, “I Am Who I Am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
Whatever changes has to have the potential to change.
There is not even a hint of potential that God could change.
(Closing illustration)
This week, I want you to think about or search out a promise from God for you and then think about the lesson today.
Some of you may need to seek a promise of his love for you and then think about the message today.
If you’re watching online or here in the room, I have a very important question to ask you.
What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?
What is Holy Spirit saying to you right now?
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