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The Immutability of God
A Sermon Delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 7th, 1855, by the
REV. C.H. SPURGEON
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.
"I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."Malachi 3:6
It has been said by some one that "the proper study of mankind is man." I will not oppose the idea, but I believe it is equally true that the proper study of God's elect is God; the proper study of a Christian is the Godhead. The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. Other subjects we can compass and grapple with; in them we feel a kind of self-content, and go our way with the thought, "Behold I am wise." But when we come to this master-science, finding that our plumb-line cannot sound its depth, and that our eagle eye cannot see its height, we turn away with the thought, that vain man would be wise, but he is like a wild ass's colt; and with the solemn exclamation, "I am but of yesterday, and know nothing." No subject of contemplation will tend more to humble the mind, than thoughts of God. We shall be obliged to feel
"Great God, how infinite art thou,
What worthless worms are we!"
But while the subject humbles the
mind it also expands it. He who often thinks of God, will have a larger mind than
the man who simply plods around this narrow globe. He may be a naturalist, boasting of his
ability to dissect a beetle, anatomize a fly, or arrange insects and animals in classes
with well nigh unutterable names; he may be a geologist, able to discourse of the
megatherium and the plesiosaurus, and all kinds of extinct animals; he may imagine that
his science, whatever it is, ennobles and enlarges his mind. I dare say it does, but after
all, the most excellent study for expanding the soul, is the science of Christ, and him
crucified, and the knowledge of the Godhead in the glorious Trinity. Nothing will so
enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnify the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest,
continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity. And, whilst humbling and
expanding, this subject is eminently consolatary. Oh, there is, in contemplating
Christ, a balm for every wound; in musing on the Father, there is a quietus for every
grief; and in the influence of the Holy Ghost, there is a balsam for every sore. Would you
lose your sorrows? Would you drown your cares? Then go, plunge yourself in the Godhead's
deepest sea; be lost in his immensity; and you shall come forth as from a couch of rest,
refreshed and invigorated. I know nothing which can so comfort the soul; so calm the
swelling billows of grief and sorrow; so speak peace to the winds of trial, as a devout
musing upon the subject of the Godhead. It is to that subject that I invite you this
morning. We shall present you with one view of it,that is the immutability of the
glorious Jehovah. "I am," says my text, "Jehovah," (for so it
should be translated) "I am Jehovah, I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed."
There are three things this morning. First of all, an unchanging God; secondly, the
persons who derive benefit from this glorious attribute, "the sons of
Jacob;" and thirdly, the benefit they so derive, they "are not consumed.'
We address ourselves to these points.
I. First of all, we have set before us the doctrine of THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD. "I am
God, I change not." Here I shall attempt to expound, or rather to enlarge the
thought, and then afterwards to bring a few arguments to prove its truth.
1. I shall offer some exposition of my text, by first saying, that God is Jehovah, and he
changes not in his essence. We cannot tell you what Godhead is. We do not know what
substance that is which we call God. It is an existence, it is a being; but what that is,
we know not. However, whatever it is, we call it his essence, and that essence never
changes. The substance of mortal things is ever changing. The mountains with their
snow-white crowns, doff their old diadems in summer, in rivers trickling down their sides,
while the storm cloud gives them another coronation; the ocean, with its mighty floods,
loses its water when the sunbeams kiss the waves, and snatch them in mists to heaven; even
the sun himself requires fresh fuel from the hand of the Infinite Almighty, to replenish
his ever burning furnace. All creatures change. Man, especially as to his body, is always
undergoing revolution. Very probably there is not a single particle in my body which was
in it a few years ago. This frame has been worn away by activity, its atoms have been
removed by friction, fresh particles of matter have in the mean time constantly accrued to
my body, and so it has been replenished; but its substance is altered. The fabric of which
this world is made is ever passing away; like a stream of water, drops are running away
and others are following after, keeping the river still full, but always changing in its
elements. But God is perpetually the same. He is not composed of any substance or
material, but is spiritpure, essential, and ethereal spiritand therefore he is
immutable. He remains everlastingly the same. There are no furrows on his eternal brow. No
age hath palsied him; no years have marked him with the mementoes of their flight; he sees
ages pass, but with him it is ever now. He is the great I AMthe Great
Unchangeable. Mark you, his essence did not undergo a change when it became united with
the manhood. When Christ in past years did gird himself with mortal clay, the essence of
his divinity was not changed; flesh did not become God, nor did God become flesh by a real
actual change of nature; the two were united in hypostatical union, but the Godhead was
still the same. It was the same when he was a babe in the manager, as it was when he
stretched the curtains of heaven; it was the same God that hung upon the cross, and whose
blood flowed down in a purple river, the self-same God that holds the world upon his
everlasting shoulders, and bears in his hands the keys of death and hell. He never has
been changed in his essence, not even by his incarnation; he remains everlastingly,
eternally, the one unchanging God, the Father of lights, with whom there is no
variableness, neither the shadow of a change.
2. He changes not in his attributes. 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 forecastings. 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;
he has promised, and he brings it to pass; he hath saith it, and it shall be done. He
varies not in the 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."
3. Then again, God changes not in his plans. That man began to build, but was not
able to finish, and therefore he changed his plan, as every wise man would do in such a
case; he built upon a smaller foundation and commenced again. But has it ever been said
that God began to build but was not able to finish? Nay. When he hath boundless stores at
his command, and when his own right hand would create worlds as numerous as drops of
morning dew, shall he ever stay because he has not power? and reverse, or alter, or
disarrange his plan, because he cannot carry it out? "But," say some,
"perhaps God never had a plan." Do you think God is more foolish than yourself
then, sir? Do you go to work without a plan? "No," say you, "I have always
a scheme." So has God. Every man has his plan, and God has a plan too. God is a
master-mind; he arranged everything in his gigantic intellect long before he did it; and
once having settled it, mark you, he never alters it. "This shall be done,"
saith he, and the iron hand of destiny marks it down, and it is brought to pass.
"This is my purpose," and it stands, nor can earth or hell alter it. "This
is my decree," saith he, promulgate it angels; rend it down from the gate of heaven
ye devils; but ye cannot alter the decree; it shall be done. God altereth not his plans;
why should he? He is Almighty, and therefore can perform his pleasure. Why should he? He
is the All-wise, and therefore cannot have planned wrongly. Why should he? He is the
everlasting God, and therefore cannot die before his plan is accomplished. Why should he
change? Ye worthless atoms of existence, ephemera of the day! Ye creeping insects upon
this bayleaf of existence! ye may change your plans, but he shall never, never
change his. Then has he told me that his plan is to save me? If so, I am safe.
"My name from the palms of his hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impress'd on his heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace."
4. Yet again, God is unchanging in his promises.
Ah! we love to speak about the sweet promises of God; but if we could ever suppose that
one of them could be changed, we would not talk anything more about them. If I thought
that the notes of the bank of England could not be cashed next week, I should decline to
take them; and if I thought that God's promises would never be fulfilledif I thought
that God would see it right to alter some word in his promisesfarewell Scriptures! I
want immutable things: and I find that I have immutable promises when I turn to the Bible:
for, "by two immutable things in which it is impossible for God to lie," he hath
signed, confirmed, and sealed every promise of his. The gospel is not "yea and
nay," it is not promising today, and denying tomorrow; but the gospel is "yea,
yea," to the glory of God. Believer! there was a delightful promise which you had
yesterday; and this morning when you turned to the Bible the promise was not sweet. Do you
know why? Do you think the promise had changed? Ah, no! You changed; that is where
the matter lies. You had been eating some of the grapes of Sodom, and your mouth was
thereby put out of taste, and you could not detect the sweetness. But there was the same
honey there, depend upon it, the same preciousness. "Oh!" says one child of God,
"I had built my house firmly once upon some stable promises; there came a wind, and I
said, O Lord, I am cast down and I shall be lost." Oh! the promises were not cast
down; the foundations were not removed; it was your little "wood, hay, stubble"
hut, that you had been building. It was that which fell down. You have been shaken on
the rock, not the rock under you. But let me tell you what is the best way of
living in the world. I have heard that a gentleman said to a Negro, "I can't think
how it is you are always so happy in the Lord and I am often downcast." "Why
Massa," said he, "I throw myself flat down on the promisethere I lie; you
stand on the promiseyou have a little to do with it, and down you go when the wind
comes, and then you cry, 'Oh! I am down;' whereas I go flat on the promise at once, and
that is why I fear no fall." Then let us always say, "Lord there is the promise;
it is thy business to fulfill it." Down I go on the promise flat! no standing up for
me. That is where you should goprostrate on the promise; and remember, every
promise is a rock, an unchanging thing. Therefore, at his feet cast yourself, and rest
there forever.
5. But now comes one jarring note to spoil the theme. To some of you God is unchanging in
his threatenings. If every promise stands fast, and every oath of the covenant is
fulfilled, hark thee, sinner!mark the wordhear the death-knell of thy carnal
hopes; see the funeral of thy fleshly trustings. Every threatening of God, as well as
every promise shall be fulfilled. Talk of decrees! I will tell you of a decree: "He
that believeth not shall be damned." That is a decree, and a statute that can never
change. Be as good as you please, be as moral as you can, be as honest as you will, walk
as uprightly as you may,there stands the unchangeable threatening: "He that
believeth not shall be damned." What sayest thou to that, moralist? Oh, thou wishest
thou couldst alter it, and say, "He that does not live a holy life shall be
damned." That will be true; but it does not say so. It says, "He that believeth
not." Here is the stone of stumbling, and the rock of offence; but you cannot alter
it. You must believe or be damned, saith the Bible; and mark, that threat of God is an
unchangeable as God himself. And when a thousand years of hell's torments shall have
passed away, you shall look on high, and see written in burning letters of fire, "He
that believeth not shall be damned." "But, Lord, I am
damned." Nevertheless it says "shall be" still. And when a million
ages have rolled away, and you are exhausted by your pains and agonies, you shall turn up
your eye and still read "SHALL BE DAMNED," unchanged, unaltered. And when you
shall have thought that eternity must have spun out its last threadthat every
particle of that which we call eternity, must have run out, you shall still see it written
up there, "SHALL BE DAMNED." O terrific thought! How dare I utter it? But I
must. Ye must be warned, sirs, "lest ye also come into this place of torment."
Ye must be told rough things; for if God's gospel is not a rough thing & the law is a
rough thing; Mount Sinai is a rough thing. Woe unto the watchman that warns not the
ungodly! God is unchanging in his threatenings. Beware, O sinner, for "it is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
6. We must just hint at one thought before we pass away and that isGod is unchanging
in the objects of his lovenot only in his love, but in the objects of
it.
"If ever it should come to pass,
That sheep of Christ might fall away.
My fickle, feeble soul, alas,
Would fall a thousand times a day."
If one dear saint of God had perished, so might all; if one of the covenant ones be lost, so may all be, and then there is no gospel promise true; but the Bible is a lie, and there is nothing in it worth my acceptance. I will be an infidel at once, when I can believe that a saint of God can ever fall finally. If God hath loved me once, then he will love me for ever.
"Did Jesus once upon me shine,
Then Jesus is for ever mine."
The objects of everlasting love never
change. Those whom God hath called, he will justify; whom he has justified, he will
sanctify; and whom he sanctifies, he will glorify.
1. Thus having taken a great deal too much time, perhaps, in simply expanding the thought
of an unchanging God, I will now try to prove that He is unchangeable. I am not
much of an argumentative preacher, but one argument that I will mention is this: the
very existence, and being of a God, seem to me to imply immutability. Let me think a
moment. There is a God; this God rules and governs all things; this God fashioned the
world: he upholds and maintains it. What kind of being must he be? It does strike me that
you cannot think of a changeable God. I conceive that the thought is so repugnant to
common sense, that if you for one moment think of a changing God, the words seem to clash,
and you are obliged to say, "Then he must be a kind of man," and get a Mormonite
idea of God. I imagine it is impossible to conceive of a changing God; it is so to me.
Others may be capable of such an idea, but I could not entertain it. I could no more think
of a changing God, than I could of a round square, or any other absurdity. The thing seems
so contrary, that I am obliged, when once I say God, to include the idea of an unchanging
being.
2. Well, I think that one argument will be enough, but another good argument may be found
in the fact of God's perfection. I believe God to be a perfect being. Now, if he is
a perfect being, he cannot change. Do you not see this? Suppose I am perfect today, if it
were possible for me to change, should I be perfect tomorrow after the alteration? If I
changed, I must either change from a good state to a betterand then if I could get
better, I could not be perfect nowor else from a better state to a
worseand if I were worse, I should not be perfect then. If I am perfect, I
cannot be altered without being imperfect. If I am perfect today, I must keep the same
tomorrow if I am to be perfect then. So, if God is perfect, he must be the same; for
change would imply imperfection now, or imperfection then.
3. Again, there is the fact of God's infinity, which puts change out of the
question. God is an infinite being. What do you mean by that? There is no man who can tell
you what he means by an infinite being. But there cannot be two infinities. If one thing
is infinite, there is no room for anything else; for infinite means all. It means not
bounded, not finite, having no end. Well, there cannot be two infinities. If God is
infinite today, and then should change and be infinite tomorrow, there would be two
infinities. But that cannot be. Suppose he is infinite and then changes, he must become
finite, and could not be God; either he is finite today and finite tomorrow, or infinite
today and finite tomorrow, or finite today and infinite tomorrowall of which
suppositions are equally absurd. The fact of his being an infinite being at once quashes
the thought of his being a changeable being. Infinity has written on its very brow the
word "immutability."
4. But then, dear friends, let us look at the past: and there we shall gather some
proofs of God's immutable nature. "Hath he spoken, and hath he not done it? Hath he
sworn, and hath it not come to pass?" Can it not be said of Jehovah, "He hath
done all his will, and he hath accomplished all his purpose?" Turn ye to Philistia;
ask where she is. God said, "Howl Ashdod, and ye gates of Gaza, for ye shall
fall;" and where are they? Where is Edom? Ask Petra and its ruined walls. Will they
not echo back the truth that God hath said, "Edom shall be a prey, and shall be
destroyed?" Where is Babel, and where Nineveh? Where Moab and where Ammon? Where are
the nations God hath said he would destroy? Hath he not uprooted them and cast out the
remembrance of them from the earth? And hath God cast off his people? Hath he once been
unmindful of his promise? Hath he once broken his oath and covenant, or once departed from
his plan? Ah! no. Point to one instance in history where God has changed! Ye cannot, sirs;
for throughout all history there stands the fact that God has been immutable in his
purposes. Methinks I hear some one say, "I can remember one passage in Scripture
where God changed!" And so did I think once. The case I mean, is that of the death of
Hezekiah. Isaiah came in and said, 'Hezekiah, you must die, your disease is incurable, set
your house in order.' He turned his face to the wall and began to pray; and before Isaiah
was in the outer court, he was told to go back and say, "Thou shalt live fifteen
years more." You may think that proves that God changes; but really I cannot see in
it the slightest proof in the world. How do you know that God did not know that? Oh! but
God did know it; he knew that Hezekiah would live. Then he did not change, for if he knew
that, how could he change? That is what I want to know. But do you know one little
thing?that Hezekiah's son Manasseh, was not born at that time, and that had Hezekiah
died, there would have been no Manasseh, and no Josiah and no Christ, because Christ came
from that very line. You will find that Manasseh was twelve years old when his father
died; so that he must have been born three years after this. And do you not believe that
God decreed the birth of Manasseh, and foreknew it? Certainly. Then he decreed that Isaiah
should go and tell Hezekiah that his disease was incurable, and then say also in the same
breath, "But I will cure it, and thou shalt live." He said that to stir up
Hezekiah to prayer. He spoke, in the first place as a man. "According to all human
probability your disease is incurable, and you must die." Then he waited till
Hezekiah prayed; then came a little "but" at the end of the sentence. Isaiah had
not finished the sentence. He said, "You must put your house in order for there is no
human cure; but" (and then he walked out. Hezekiah prayed a little, and then he came
in again, and said) "But I will heal thee." Where is there any
contradiction there, except in the brain of those who fight against the Lord, and wish to
make him a changeable being.
II. Now secondly, let me say a word on THE PERSONS TO WHOM THIS UNCHANGEABLE GOD IS A
BENEFIT. "I am God, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed."
Now, who are "the sons of Jacob," who can rejoice in an immutable God?
1. First, they are the sons of God's election; for it is written, "Jacob have
I loved, and Esau have I hated, the children being not yet born neither having done good
nor evil." It was written, "The elder shall serve the younger." "The
sons of Jacob"
"Are the sons of God's election,
Who through sovereign grace believe;
Be eternal destination
Grace and glory they receive."
God's elect are here meant by "the sons
of Jacob,"those whom he foreknew and fore-ordained to everlasting salvation.
2. By "the sons of Jacob" are meant, in the second place, persons who enjoy
peculiar rights and titles. Jacob, you know, had no rights by birth; but he soon
acquired them. He changed a mess of pottage with his brother Esau, and thus gained the
birthright. I do not justify the means; but he did also obtain the blessing, and so
acquired peculiar rights. By "the sons of Jacob" here, are meant persons who
have peculiar rights and titles. Unto them that believe, he hath given the right and power
to become sons of God. They have an interest in the blood of Christ; they have a right to
"enter in through the gates into the city;" they have a title to eternal honors;
they have a promise to everlasting glory; they have a right to call themselves sons of
God. Oh! there are peculiar rights and privileges belonging to the "sons of
Jacob."
3. But, then next, these "sons of Jacob" were men of peculiar manifestations.
Jacob had peculiar manifestations from his God, and thus he was highly honored. Once at
night-time he lay down and slept; he had the hedges for his curtains, the sky for his
canopy, a stone for his pillow, and the earth for his bed. Oh! then he had a peculiar
manifestation. There was a ladder, and he saw the angels of God ascending and descending.
He thus had a manifestation of Christ Jesus, as the ladder which reaches from earth to
heaven, up and down which angels came to bring us mercies. Then what a manifestation there
was at Mahanaim, when the angels of God met him; and again at Peniel, when he wrestled
with God, and saw him face to face. Those were peculiar manifestations; and this passage
refers to those who, like Jacob, have had peculiar manifestations.
Now then, how many of you have had personal manifestations? "Oh!" you say
"that is enthusiasm; that is fanaticism." Well, it is a blessed enthusiasm, too,
for the sons of Jacob have had peculiar manifestations. They have talked with God as a man
talketh with his friend; they have whispered in the ear of Jehovah; Christ hath been with
them to sup with them, and they with Christ; and the Holy Spirit hath shone into their
souls with such a mighty radiance, that they could not doubt about special manifestations.
The "sons of Jacob" are the men, who enjoy these manifestations.
4. Then again, they are men of peculiar trials. Ah! poor Jacob! I should not choose
Jacob's lot if I had not the prospect of Jacob's blessing; for a hard lot his was. He had
to run away from his father's house to Laban's; and then that surly old Laban cheated him
all the years he was therecheated him of his wife, cheated him in his wages, cheated
him in his flocks, and cheated him all through the story. By-and-bye he had to run away
from Laban, who pursued him and overtook him. Next came Esau with four hundred men to cut
him up root and branch. Then there was a season of prayer, and afterwards he wrestled, and
had to go all his life with his thigh out of joint. But a little further on, Rachael, his
dear beloved, died. Then his daughter Dinah is led astray, and the sons murder the
Shechemites. Anon there is dear Joseph sold into Egypt, and a famine comes. Then Reuben
goes up to his couch and pollutes it; Judah commits incest with his own daughter-in-law;
and all his sons become a plague to him. At last Benjamin is taken away; and the old man,
almost broken-hearted, cries, "Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take
Benjamin away." Never was man more tried than Jacob, all through the one sin of
cheating his brother. All through his life God chastised him. But I believe there are many
who can sympathize with dear old Jacob. They have had to pass through trials very much
like his. Well, cross-bearers! God says, "I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed." Poor tried souls! ye are not consumed because of the unchanging
nature of your God. Now do not get fretting, and say, with the self-conceit of misery,
"I am the man who hath seen affliction." Why "the Man of Sorrows" was
afflicted more than you; Jesus was indeed a mourner. You only see the skirts of the
garments of affliction. You never have trials like his. You do not understand what
troubles means; you have hardly sipped the cup of trouble; you have only had a drop or
two, but Jesus drunk the dregs. Fear not saith God, "I am the Lord, I change not;
therefore ye sons of Jacob," men of peculiar trials, "are not consumed."
5. Then one more thought about who are the "sons of Jacob," for I should like
you to find out whether you are "sons of Jacob," yourselves. They are men of
peculiar character; for though there were some things about Jacob's character which we
cannot commend, there are one or two things which God commends. There was Jacob's faith,
by which Jacob had his name written amongst the mighty worthies who obtained not the
promises on earth, but shall obtain them in heaven. Are you men of faith, beloved? Do you
know what it is to walk by faith, to live by faith, to get your temporary food by faith,
to live on spiritual mannaall by faith? Is faith the rule of your life? if so, you
are the "sons of Jacob."
Then Jacob was a man of prayera man who wrestled, and groaned, and prayed.
There is a man up yonder who never prayed this morning, before coming up to the house of
God. Ah! you poor heathen, don't you pray? No! he says, "I never thought of such a
thing; for years I have not prayed." Well, I hope you may before you die. Live and
die without prayer, and you will pray long enough when you get to hell. There is a woman:
she did not pray this morning; she was so busy sending her children to the Sunday School,
she had no time to pray. No time to pray? Had you time to dress? There is a time for every
purpose under heaven, and if you had purposed to pray, you would have prayed. Sons of God
cannot live without prayer. They are wrestling Jacobs. They are men in whom the Holy Ghost
so works, they they can no more five without prayer than I can live without breathing.
They must pray. Sirs, mark you, if you are living without prayer, you are living without
Christ; and dying like that, your portion will be in the lake which burneth with fire. God
redeem you, God rescue you from such a lot! But you who are "the sons of Jacob,"
take comfort, for God is immutable.
III. Thirdly, I can say only a word about the other pointTHE BENEFIT WHICH THESE
"SONS OF JACOB" RECEIVE FROM AN UNCHANGING GOD. "Therefore ye sons Jacob
are not consumed." "Consumed?" How? how can man be consumed? Why, there are
two ways. We might have been consumed in hell. If God had been a changing God, the
"sons of Jacob" here this morning, might have been consumed in hell; but for
God's unchanging love I should have been a faggot in the fire. But there is a way of being
consumed in this world; there is such a things as being condemned before you
die"condemned already;" there is such a thing as being alive, and yet
being absolutely dead. We might have been left to our own devices, and then where should
we have been now? Revelling with the drunkard, blaspheming Almighty God. Oh? had he left
you, dearly beloved, had he been a changing God, ye had been amongst the filthiest of the
filthy, and the vilest of the vile. Cannot you remember in your life, seasons similar to
those I have felt? I have gone right to the edge of sin; some strong temptation has taken
hold of both my arms, so that I could not wrestle with it. I have been pushed alone,
dragged as by an awful satanic power to the very edge of some horrid precipice. I have
looked down, down, down, and seen my portion; I quivered on the brink of ruin. I have been
horrified, as, with my hair upright, I have thought of the sin I was about to commit, the
horrible pit into which I was about to fall. A strong arm hath saved me. I have started
back and cried, O God! could I have gone so near sin, and yet come back again? Could I
have walked right up to the furnace and not fallen down, like Nebuchadnezzar's strong men,
devoured by the very heat? Oh! is it possible I should be here this morning, when I think
of the sins I have committed, and the crimes which have crossed my wicked imagination?
Yes, I am here, unconsumed, because the Lord changes not. Oh! if he had changed, we should
have been consumed in a dozen ways; if the Lord had changed, you and I should have been
consumed by ourselves; for after all, Mr. Self is the worst enemy a Christian has. We
should have proved suicides to our own souls; we should have mixed the cup of poison for
our own spirits, if the Lord had not been an unchanging God, and dashed the cup out of our
hands when we were about to drink it. Then we should have been consumed by God himself if
he had not been a changeless God. We call God a Father; but there is not a father in this
world who would not have killed all his children long ago, so provoked would he have been
with them, if he had been half as much troubled as God has been with his family. He has
the most troublesome family in the whole worldunbelieving, ungrateful, disobedient,
forgetful, rebellious, wandering, murmuring, and stiffnecked. Well it is that he is
longsuffering, or else he would have taken not only the rod, but the sword to some of us
long ago. But there was nothing in us to love at first, so, there cannot be less now. John
Newton used to tell a whimsical story, and laugh at it too, of a good woman who said, in
order to prove the doctrine of Election, "Ah! sir, the Lord must have loved me before
I was born, or else he would not have seen anything in me to love afterwards." I am
sure it is true in my case, and true in respect most of God's people; for there is little
to love in them after they are born, that if he had not loved them before then, he would
have seen no reason to choose them after; but since he loved them without works, he loves
them without works still; since their good works did not win his affection, bad works
cannot sever that affection; since their righteousness did not bind his love to them, so
their wickedness cannot snap the golden links. He loved them out of pure sovereign grace,
and he will love them still. But we should have been consumed by the devil, and by our
enemiesconsumed by the world, consumed by our sins, by our trials, and in a hundred
other ways, if God had ever changed.
Well, now, time fails us, and I can say but little. I have only just cursorily touched on
the text. I now hand it to you. May the Lord help you "sons of Jacob" to take
home this portion of meat; digest it well, and feed upon it. May the Holy Ghost sweetly
apply the glorious things that are written! And may you have "a feast of fat things,
of wines on the lees well refined!" Remember God is the same, whatever is removed.
Your friends may be disaffected, your ministers may be taken away, every thing may change,
but God does not. Your brethren may change and cast out your name as vile: but God will
love you still. Let your station in life change, and your property be gone; let your whole
life be shaken, and you become weak and sickly; let everything flee awaythere is one
place where change cannot put his finger; there is one name on which mutability can never
be written; there is one heart which never can alter; that heart is God'sthat name
Love.
"Trust him, he will ne'er deceive
you.
Though you hardly of him deem;
He will never, never leave you,
Nor will let you quite leave him."
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