Things that do not change # 2 - the presence of God

This was not a written devotional, but a Sunday service that can be found in audio form here : https://wlbc.sermoncloud.com/# under the heading "March 29"

or you can watch the whole church service here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyryUu7hSgY

God's presence with us does not change!

Things that do not Change # 1 - The Word of God

Things seem a little crazy right now don’t they!  I want you to know that in times that are strange and uncertain it can be difficult to obey the commands of Scripture to avoid worry and anxiety.  Our natural impulse is to want to protect our status quo and keep things “normal.”  And when normal gets upset one of the first human responses is anxiety about the future.  So, how is it that the Bible can ask of us that we avoid anxiety?  How can we practically move from anxiety to peace?  

Obviously there are some simple answers like prayer and reading the Bible, but I think that even though we know these are good things to do we do not know how or why they are helping us.  I want to offer a bit of something I have learned:  In order to avoid worry we have to replace it with something else.  Worry is essentially focus on the unknown and that which can’t be known.  Anxiety is then stressing about the unknown and that which cannot be known.  We can help ourselves by replacing these things with that which we do know.  And so I thought I would share a brief devotional about things that we know!

I would call your attention to Isaiah 40. 

The thing that does not change is the Word of God.  God’s Word does not change.  Notice first verse 8 “The word of our God stands forever.”  Think about that.  In changing times we can be anchored to the Word of God!  Stop for a moment and meditate on that phrase.  Say it to yourself over and over again.  The Word of our God stands forever.  The Word of our God stands forever.  The Word of our God stands forever. 

Now look at the surrounding narrative.  The first few verses are a call to peace.  This call comes after a plot to overthrown all of Judah by the nation of Assyria.  Hezekiah seeks God’s help and is rewarded with a victory in chapter 37.  After that great moment he becomes mortally ill.  He prays and seeks God and he is healed.  Then in chapter 39 Hezekiah boasts of all the wealth he has accumulated and the prophet tells him it will all be taken to Babylon.  Talk about times of uncertainty and turmoil!  And in chapter 40 God speaks.  And God talks about His own greatness.  And in verse 3 we see a voice call out about preparing for God (think John the Baptist and the fulfillment of this).  In verse 6 that voice tells the prophet to call out and then proceeds to tell the prophet what to say. 

The prophet is to speak that all flesh is grass and will wither and fade.  In other words, if we are placing our hope and certainty with people, we are misplaced.  ALL FLESH IS GRASS.  People are impermanent.  No one likes to think about this, but we are impermanent.  We are weak and frail.  We are but a vapor and a mist.  We are sheep.  People are not where we put our hope. And yet so often we place our hope on people.  Our perspective needs to be tempered by the Word of God which says that flesh is perishable, the Word of God is not.  This thought continues – in the same chapter in verse 23-24 he reminds us that human rulers and powers are meaningless and God blows on them and they are carried away.  God however, and His Word, are not like humans.  God and His Word are stable.  God’s Word stands forever.  God’s Word stands forever.  And so in crazy times we are called to not look at the world around us and try to make sense of it in order to find peace.   We are told to look up.  Literally.  Notice verse 26 – “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars.”  And we find our comfort in the last 5 verses of the same chapter.  We must wait on the Lord whose Word never fails.  The Word of our God stands forever.  And God’s Word (in the same chapter even) tells us that we who wait on God will gain new strength! 

So in our tendency toward anxiety may we all remember that we can have peace when we look to those things that do not change.  Spend time studying the Word of God.  Spend time placing your faith and hope in the things that will never change.  And in them find certainty and peace.  The Word of our God stands forever. 

Things that do not change # 3 - the Character of God

As we consider our list of things that do not change, we have already examined that we can trust the Word of God and we have considered that we can always rely on the presence of God with us.  Today I want to remind us of something else that does not change.  This is known as the doctrine of immutability.  God does not change.  Wayne Grudem defines this unchanging nature of God like this, “God is unchanging in his being, perfections, purposes and promises, yet God does act and feel emotions, he acts and feels differently in response to different situations.”  (from his work Systematic Theology) In other words, the character and nature of God does not change.  Notice what Malachi 3:6 says, “’For I, the Lord, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.’”  When our world is changing constantly, we can take comfort in the constant nature of God and the fact that He is faithful to keep ALL of his promises to us.  This unchanging nature of God is also seen in James 1:17 and here we see it is the reason we can trust that all good things are coming from God above.  In Isaiah 46:9-11 we see that this part of the character of God means that we can trust that He will do what He says He will do.  This is the reason that the Word of God does not change – we cannot remove what God says from His character and our God does not change. 

Think about this during times of turmoil.  The whole world can turn upside down and backward.  Each of our lives can seem one moment certain and the next moment totally unknown.  But God does not change.  And the plan that He has enacted from before the beginning of time WILL reach its conclusion because God cannot act against His own faithful and true character.  Every Word He has spoken will not return void because of the unchanging nature of His own character. 

One of the difficulties that we face is that far too often we define God by our circumstances instead of by His character.  For example, when the Scriptures talk about the goodness of God, we take goodness and define it by our own circumstances.  Then when our circumstances change, we question the character of God.  We must not do this.  God does not change.  Therefore, what needs to change is our perspective on our circumstances.  We must learn to see our world through the means given to us – the unchanging Word of God.  We must learn to trust that God is God and there is no other.  So, when bad things happen to us, we remind ourselves that God is God and is bringing about His ultimate answer to evil through the already accomplished work of Christ.  We do not focus on the displeasure of our circumstances but focus instead on the blessings and pleasure we have because of Jesus.  And we do this because we know that God is going to accomplish His purpose because His character cannot change. 

This truth is why Jesus can say that what He teaches is a firm foundation – a foundation built on rock instead of sand.  (Matthew 7:24-27) This is why we will never go wrong when, “Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.”  And in moments of uncertainty and fear it is good to remind ourselves that we can hold fast to God because, “I, the Lord, do not change. . .” (Mal. 3:6)

Our present world and fear

In one of the devotional booklets that I read, the theme of the month has been fear and how to live and address fear in the lives of Christians.  Obviously the Scriptures are full of commands to live free from fear but so often when things are uncertain we immediately fear.  Some of this is natural.  The unknown is scary.  But when we are faced with the unknown we of all people should understand that we can battle this unknown with that which is known.  God is still on the throne.  God is still perfectly capable and in control.  I want to share two passages from the devotional that I read entitled "Fear of a Changing World" by Keith A Evans.  This devotional can be found in "TableTalk" a devotional publication of Ligonier ministries.  It is in the March 2020 issue.

"Dear ones, God does not flick through the same twenty-four-hour news cycle and wring His hands in perplexity.  Our triune Lord does not look down in panic as He observe the tares earnestly growing among the wheat.  The God who encourages us not to worry about tomorrow and command us not to be anxious is Himself never anxious and does not worry."

And this one also.

"The solution to a world in constant flux is not to desperately try to stabilize and unstable world.  The cure for panicking about the winds and the waves constantly beating against the house is not to board up the proverbial windows.  Freedom from fear of change results not from the absence of change but from the presence of an unchanging God."

Psalm 46:2 "Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;"

And a few verses later in Psalm 46:10-11 "Cease Striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.  The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold."

God has got this world in his capable hands.  Sometimes we need to simply surrender our fear to trust in His unchanging character.

A prayer from Bonhoeffer

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who opposed the Nazi movement in Germany and was ultimately killed for his stance.  He was strongly committed to his belief that the church should stand up against evil.  He wrote a series of letters and papers while he was imprisoned and in these documents there was a series of prayers recorded.  I have included the English translation from Letters and Papers from Prison printed by the MacMillan Company in 1967. 

Evening Prayers

O Lord my God, I thank thee

that thous has brought this day to a close;

I thank thee for giving me rest

in body and soul.

Thy hand has guarded me and preserved me.  

Forgive my lack of faith

and any wrong that I have done today,

and help me to forgive all who have wronged me.

Let me sleep in peace under thy protection

and keep me from all the temptations of darkness.

Into thy hands I commend my loved ones

and all who dwell in this house;

I commend to thee my body and soul.

O God, thy holy name be praise.

Amen.

I find what this man wrote about forgiveness in this prayer to be crucial to our understanding of living for Jesus.  We need to both ask forgiveness and freely forgive all who have wronged us.  This does not mean we have to agree with their position as he clearly never agreed with the Nazi regime.  However we do need to by the grace of God, give them to God in our prayers.