I change not
Category: Peace & Assurance
Key Passage: Malachi 3:6
Speaker: Paul Chisgar
Date: August 10, 2025
If you would, turn to the Bible, to Malachi chapter number three, the last book of the Old Testament. And then the silent years—we call it about 400 years—in the book of Matthew. But that last Old Testament prophet, Malachi, amen, Malachi. And Malachi chapter number three in God’s word, we’re…
We are trying to get down to verse number six, a very familiar verse, but we’re going to go ahead and just kind of get verse one down through to give us a little background, and then we’ll take the truth in verse number six and apply it to a lot of different areas tonight. Malachi chapter number three, starting in verse number one.
The Bible says, “Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.” Who is he talking about there? Someone, anybody? Good. John the Baptist. Now notice this, and the Lord whom ye seek—speaking, of course, of the coming Messiah, Jesus—shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delight in. Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
Many of the prophets foretold Jesus. It’s like looking through a telescope, if you will, with a close-up lens and a far-out lens. The closer lens would be his first coming when he came and was born, laid in the manger, and on and on. But then there’s also another coming, the second coming of Christ, when he comes at the Battle of Armageddon on a white horse and on and on. Of course, in between that, when he doesn’t really come all the way to earth, he comes in the clouds—the rapture when we are called out. So a lot of these prophets will blend the near coming and the far coming of the Messiah together. Some of that’s happening here as we read.
Verse number two: “But who may abide the day of his coming? And who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like a fuller’s soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver. And he shall purify the sons of Levi and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old and as in the former years.”
Speaking of even later on towards the end of the tribulation period, “And I will come near to you to judgment, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers.” Sorcerers there has to do typically with demonics and drugs and on and on, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages. A hireling typically is like we used to have sharecroppers in our day and time, the very poor often, the widow and the fatherless, and that turned aside the strangers from his right—talking about foreigners, don’t treat foreigners right. “And fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.” God says, I won’t deal with these people.
But now, verse number six, where we’re trying to get at—verse number six—he said, “For I am the Lord, I change not. Therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
And now that, “therefore, ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.” We’ll talk about it briefly. He made a covenant—Abrahamic covenant, Davidic covenant—and all. Not only that, but his protection on them all these years; they can’t wipe them out. He said, “I don’t change. These things I said are still true.” And because of that, therefore, you sons of Jacob are not consumed.
We’re going to really focus on this. The Lord said, “I change not.”
God promised Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. He said, now, beginning with Abraham, he said, “I’m going to make of you a great nation.” He reaffirms that after Abraham willingly offers up Isaac. Of course, God provided the ram. He reaffirms and even adds to that blessing: “I’ll bless you,” and all. He reaffirms with Isaac and with Jacob. And let me just kind of put it in a nutshell: He’s not going to take his hand off of Israel.
Now, that can mean good and bad. Of course, Israel, they had the chastening of God, and they rejected the coming Messiah that was prophesied there in the first coming of Jesus. And, boy, they’ve been persecuted—seventy A.D., when Roman and Titus, the Roman general, marched in there and just wiped out Jerusalem. And they have dispersed. They dispersed the Jewish people around the globe. But really, it’s amazing. Nothing else quite, not even close to being like it, but it dispersed them around the world.
And yet God told us over there in Ezekiel 36 and other places that “I’m going to regather.” There were about 1,800 years the Jewish people dispersed around the world, having been persecuted. And yet God brought—usually typically a nationality when it is dispersed like that, they just kind of mix and melt into it, and they’re never known of it again. But 1,800 years later, the Jewish people still have their nationality.
And then God brings them back to the very, to the exact land where they had before. That’s never heard of. Nothing close to that in all history. Just that alone to me shows how accurate the Bible is. And he said, before I come back, before Jesus comes back, that’s got to be. And it’s been fulfilled in 1948. And then maybe even a little bit more, the Six-Day War, 1967, when they took Jerusalem, that exact spot. And it’s been fulfilled, and God told us that was going to happen. You say, why did that happen? Because he doesn’t change.
He promised that. He told us that years and years ago, and God doesn’t change. In fact, during the tribulation period, God goes back to his original intent, if you will, when he begins to use the Jewish—well, specifically the 144,000. Jehovah’s Witnesses? No, I’m joking about that. Not 144,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses, the 144,000 Jewish evangelists.
God wanted to work through Israel in the beginning to reach the world, and God goes back because he doesn’t change, and he does use them like his original intent during the tribulation period to reach the world—people saved from every tribe, every language around the globe. Why does that happen? Because God does not change. That’s what he’s speaking of.
By the way, how many have tried to wipe Israel off the map? Happening in our day and time. And yet God said, “Hey, I gave you a promise. You’re not going to be consumed because I change not.”
Friend, you can put a map on the floor and cover up Israel with your thumb. It’s about the size of the state of Jersey, where my gangster family—some of my gangster family—lives up there, you know, with the gang signs and all that stuff, you know. And about that size of that, and all those nations around Israel that have tried to wipe Israel out for years and years, you can put your feet on the map and not cover them up. I mean, all those nations.
And yet Israel, Israel is still standing strong today. Why is that? Because the Lord gave some promises, and he does not change. Amen. Praise the Lord for God that doesn’t change.
Now, let me try to explain some things. There are times in the Bible when God does change his mind. You remember over there in Exodus 32 when God was going to wipe out the children of Israel? And, oh, Moses, they begin to pray, “Lord, you know what they’re going to say about you? It’s your reputation. They’re not my people; they’re your people,” and all. You know, the Bible says, “And the Lord repented of the evil.” That means it’s sinful evil. I mean, he was going to—man, I tell you what, God brings judgment; it’s some evil right there. Not sinful evil, but evil as far as his power and his might, his tribulation.
Remember over there in Nineveh when Jonah preached that great message: 40 days unless you get right and repent and so on? And the Ninevites did get right—fasted and prayed, even their cattle. Well, that’s a sad thing. That means a little food dog you can’t eat for a couple days, a little kitty cat can’t eat. Come on now. Come on now. You know, I love my dog too, you know, but I mean, all of them fasted and prayed, got right by God. I know what the Bible says in Jonah 3, verse number 10: God repented. That’s what the Bible says.
In fact, over 20 times in the Bible—in the King James Bible, by the way—over 20 times God is the one that’s repenting. That’s why you better be careful. Yes, you must repent, but what does that mean? That’s why you’ve got to be careful with that. It means turn from your sin. God has to turn from sin? God never sinned. Come on now, don’t get quiet. Over 20 times God’s repented in the Bible. Yes, it’s part of it, but you’ve got to understand what it means. But that’s not what we’re worried about; it’s a little side note.
But yes, God sometimes does change his mind. “All right, Moses, I’ll hear your prayer. All right, they’ve gotten right with me. I’ll change the destruction of the evil I was going to bring.” Yes, yes, yes. But the nature of God—we call it immutability of God. You said, “What in the world does that mean?” I don’t know. I just was happy I could say it, amen, you know.
The nature of God does not change. “I am the Lord, I change not.” Let’s get a couple of things about that. His righteousness—the righteousness of God will not change. I’ll read a couple of verses. Psalm 112, verse number 9: “His righteousness endureth forever.”
Let me read: “His righteousness endureth forever.” They can say, “Well, it’s all right to murder that baby because it’s in the mother’s womb,” but his righteousness endures. They can push against him all they want; he’ll never change. He’s righteous. Deuteronomy 32:4: “He is the Rock”—I like that—“He is a rock. His work is perfect, for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.”
They can get everybody in the whole world to vote on a poll, and in that poll, they can all say it is morally okay for someone to be a homosexual, and they can go against God, but God’s righteousness will not change. God still says that is a sin. Now, we’re going to love those folks; we ought to love those folks like that. They need the Lord. We talked about that on Wednesday night. You say, “Man, Wednesday night you’re on this side, this night you’re on that side.” You know what’s going on? I’m bipolar, amen. That’s what it is.
I’m joking, of course. But his righteousness will not change. They can say it’s all right to mutilate a person to try to change them from being a male to a female or vice versa. And they can say that’s right. They can say you ought to do that, you ought to do that for that person that wants to do that. They can say all that all they want. But the Lord is righteous, and his righteousness will not change. You understand?
And I’m not going to change. They can push all they want. I can even try to get God to change for me to justify my way of living. Come on. We’ve all been there a little bit every once in a while. And I can push against God and try to get God to accept something I want to do that I know is not right to do. I know what the Word of God says; it’s not right. And I can push against God all I want, but his righteousness will not change. He said it doesn’t change. His righteousness does not change.
His holiness will never change. Let me read for you just for a second time. Let me read for a couple of verses. Leviticus 11:44: “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore sanctify yourselves; you shall be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 11:45: “Next verse, ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” Leviticus 19:2: “Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” Leviticus 20:26: “And ye shall be holy unto me, for I the Lord am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16: “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
Now, that’s not going to change. “I, the Lord, change not.” That’s the nature of God. That’s who God is and what God is. And God said, no, I’m not going to change. Man can try to bring down God to a worldly, fleshly type of Christianity and type of worship to God, but God says, “I’m holy. I will not change.” Don’t get quiet.
He’s not going to change, friend. They can try to bring God down and say, “Let’s bring worldly music in, let’s bring worldly philosophy in, let’s bring worldly marketing in,” all these different things. And they can just try to make it as worldly as they want it to be, but God says, “No, I’m a holy God. I’m separate from the world. I will not change my holiness.” Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. You’re not going to change.
Because the Lord is separate from the world, he is holy. 758 years before Christ, the seraphim in Isaiah 6, verse number three, cried saying, “Holy, holy, holy.” That’s way before Jesus came. Now later on over in the book of Revelation, down during the tribulation, before Revelation 4, verse number 8, thousands of years later, the four beasts say, they rest not day and night saying, “Holy, holy, holy, holy.” Over there, thousands of years earlier, “holy, holy.” Over here in Revelation, during the tribulation period, he is still holy, holy, holy, holy, holy. The world can change. They can push against him. They can try to just reinvent the wheel on everything, but he is holy, and he always will be holy.
I’m not going to change. He’s not going to change for me when I try to get him to. And he’s not going to change for anyone else. Man will try to make God more user-friendly, easier, if you will. And say, “Well, let’s take an altar. Let’s not have an altar call. Let’s not have an altar in a church.” By the way, friend, there are 321 verses in the Bible that use the word “altar.” Kind of seems like God is a little bit interested in an altar.
But God said, “No, I’m holy. I’m separate from the world. I don’t use their methods of them raising themselves up.” In God’s economy, God says you humble yourselves, and he exalts you. And there’s something humbling about coming to an old-fashioned altar and kneeling before an almighty God and saying, “I want to reverence you. I want to do business with you, and I want to get on my knees and humble myself before you.” God’s holy. He won’t change those things, friend. Come on now. He’s holy. He always will be holy.
Music. We mentioned it just to touch this morning. Brother Adam says, “Man, don’t steal all my thunder.” I’m about to get on music in the classics. He knows much more details about music, for sure. You can’t sing quite as good as me. No, I’m joking. We need some more men up there. I’ll be there. Some will say music is immoral. I mean, well, it’s just notes. But you know, the Bible says, “The Lord has put a new song in my heart.” Well, you say, “Well, it’s just immoral; it’s just musical notes.” But, friend, the alphabet is just letters, but you can put those letters and put them together in a certain way. And, well, that’s not immoral when it spells that right there. Same time we use it. No, I don’t want to bring the world’s music in and put God’s words to it. I don’t want to mix the two, friend, because God is holy. He will always be holy.
Years ago, there was a church in Tampa, Florida. I doubt it’s still there years ago. And they were—they were—they were bringing a church into a nightclub. Now, I’ve heard of a church starting, and they’ve got to clean out the beer bottles and everything and have church in there. And I’m talking about where they were having drinking during the church service. Friend, you can’t mix, you know, that and the Lord. Well, same thing, the world’s music and mixing it with God’s words.
No, he’s holy, holy, holy, holy. He’s separate from the world. He’s far—he’s far away. No, no. He said, “Hey, when you go to the world and make them your friend, that’s like making—you’re cheating on me,” God says over there in James 4:4. Yeah. “You are not the principle of the world’s enmity with God,” he says over there. “You adulterous and adulteresses?” No, you are not the principle of the world’s enmity with God. He’s holy. He’ll always be holy.
In modesty, he said, “Well, I know, I know it was coming pretty soon here. It was. Don’t want to disappoint you.” Amen.
Well, they’ll say, “Well, over there in Samuel and David, he says, ‘Man looketh at the outward appearance.’” The Lord looketh on the heart. Well, did you notice what he said? “Man looketh at the outward appearance.” You’re right. Amen. So I better be careful what I wear because man looks at that. Men are sight-oriented. Come on now.
Yeah. Hey, here’s the holy God. This whole world—my goodness, it’s summertime—and I want to say, “Man, you don’t have enough clothes on, lady, to cover a net.” Let’s go to Goodwill. We’ll get you some clothes. We’ll get a good deal because you probably won’t wear it long, but let’s go get some clothes and put it on, you know. Yeah, that’s the world’s philosophy.
But the Lord’s not going to go just because it’s popular. God’s not going to change, friend. He still says—he says over there in Timothy—he says, “I want you to dress where people can look at you and it’s professing godliness with good works.” They look at you and they just see a godly lady doing good works. That’s what God wants. Father, he says that directly to ladies because typically ladies aren’t turned on by sight, but men are. Often say most ladies are good ladies. Most ladies would change their dress standard—I’m talking about the world, ladies in the world—if they could go to the mall with the mind of a man for about five minutes on a Friday night.
You don’t talk about it? Yeah. And God’s still holy. He’s not going to lower his standard for me or you because all the world is going this way. He’s holy. He said, “I will not change.”
Interesting old Daniel over there, that Israelite Jewish boy over there in Babylon. And Babylon had a lot of religions; had all kinds of religions. And yet they said about Daniel—four times it says that—“In him is the spirit of the holy gods.” All these different religions, but they said about Daniel, “That’s a holy God.” By the way, the Holy Spirit makes your body his temple.
Did you hear that? The Holy Spirit, when he moves in, your body becomes his temple. Wouldn’t it be a shame for the devil to use the temple of the Spirit of God to make a man fall over here? Wouldn’t that be a shame?
Now, if he’s just sinful, you can’t change that, but I don’t want to be because I’m dressing the temple of God in a wrong way, or too tight clothing. You know, sometimes the clothing is so tight you can tell him that quarter is heads or tails without him, you know, just on the outside looking through the pocket hole there. Y’all know what I’m talking about.
But I’m saying, that’s not going to change. You say, “Well, that’s where society is at, and we’re just going…” No, God, he does not change. Holy. Holy. Holy, holy, holy. You say, “Let’s talk about a different nature, different party.” All right, let’s move on over. Well, he said he’s righteous. He is. He’s holy. He always will be.
This is a wonderful thing: His mercy will never change. I like that. Psalms, Psalms, you know it. Psalm 136; there are 26 verses, and all 26 verses say, “His mercy endureth forever.” Verse number one starts off, “O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever.”
Hey, here’s a wonderful thing: because his mercy will never, ever change. Praise the Lord, I will never burn in hell for one split second because his mercy endureth forever. Amen for that? I won’t smell the brimstone. I won’t hear the screaming and crying. I won’t have the outer darkness. I won’t feel the pain—not for one split second—because the mercy of the Lord, it will not change; it endureth forever. Praise the Lord for that.
He’s not going to change. He is merciful. You said, “Well, that person doesn’t deserve the mercy of God.” God said, “I don’t care what you say. My mercy does not change.” They’ve accepted the mercy through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, and he will not change for me or anyone. By the way, aren’t we thankful when it comes to us that doesn’t change? Merciful for him. Merciful. You go to him 10,000 times and say, “Lord, I’m sorry, I messed up again,” and you say, “I won’t do it again,” and you do it again. And you go back for the 10,000 and one time, and the mercy of the Lord endureth forever. By the way, the key is, don’t stop going to him. Is that a double negative? I don’t know. It’s Southern, so we’ll take it, amen. His mercy will be there. His mercy endures. He says, “I will not change.”
I love this verse. Psalm 147, verse number 11: “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy.” He takes pleasure in those who hope in his mercy. He’s not going to change. His righteousness is not going to change. His holiness is not going to change. His mercy—we mentioned this a lot; I preached a whole message on it last Sunday morning—but his love, his love will never change. 1 John 4:8, 1 John 4:16. The Bible uses these three words: “God is love.” I’m not going to change. I don’t change. Once you’ve accepted the love of God, that’s why Romans 8 over there says nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. You don’t have to wake up tomorrow and say, “I wonder if he loves me.” It’ll never change.
“Well, I’ve not been where I ought to be. I’ve not been doing all these things.” The preacher preaches on this, that, and the other—he said the preacher preaches on everything, good grief—you know, but I’m not where I ought to be. Hey, friend, if you’re a born-again Christian, he will always love you. When you’ve got everything right, when you don’t have everything right. Next week, he’s going to love you. Next year, he’s going to love you. A hundred years from now, he’s going to love you. A thousand years from now, he’s going to love you. A million years from now in eternity, he’s going to love you. A billion years from now in eternity, he’s going to love you. A billion—he’s going to—friend, it will not change. He’s going to love you forever. He said, “I don’t change.”
The devil can come against you, and he will. He’s an accuser, accusing the brother before God. And God says, “I love them, and I don’t change. They’ve accepted that love of God through Christ Jesus.” He’ll never, ever change. You can wake up and be wallowing in your own vomit because of what you drank the night before and all the rest of that. And yet while you’re laying there in your own vomit, God will say, “I love that individual.” God will always love you, and what you’re saying, “I don’t want you to change,” is always true.
Someone had a weather vane, you know, where it kind of pointed—I don’t know why it is. Usually it’s the roosters, you know, on the rooftop, and as the wind blows, it turns, you know, whatever it may be—the wind pointer or the weather vane, you know. And someone had one of those up. One of the great preachers—I think maybe Spurgeon, I might be wrong about that—but it said on there, “The Love of God.” And the preacher said, “Well, you know, somebody said, ‘What does that mean?’ you know, ‘As you live, right, the love of God changes or whatnot, you know? On a good day it’s blowing this way and blowing this way and all that.’” And the individual said, “No, that weather vane that says the love of God means it doesn’t matter which way the wind is blowing, God always loves you.”
He always will. Always will. It doesn’t change. Let me give a couple of thoughts. We’re going to go home, have a rotisserie chicken. We’re getting healthy. I mean, getting old is the problem there, you know. A couple of thoughts real quickly. Three things real quick.
Number one: You don’t have to worry about truth changing. You don’t have to keep studying. If it’s truth, it’ll be the same. You don’t have to have—if it was right yesterday, it’ll be right tomorrow. If it was wrong yesterday, it’ll be wrong today. If you’ve got truth, it won’t change. The world can change, YouTube will change, Instagram will change, the polls will change, the political parties will change, society will change, professors will change—all of that. But if you’ve got truth, it won’t change. It’ll always be true.
Friends will change. Neighbors will change. What is right or wrong will change. But truth, it’s going to be the same. By the way, every once in a while, you can say to Obama and others, “Keep the change.” Amen. We’ll just stick with the truth. Truth doesn’t change.
And God—Jesus is the truth. I was listening to Unshackled last night. How many ever listened to Unshackled before? Wow, they’re such a blessing. I love that. We’ve got them on a radio station, whatnot. But a man from Japan, a Japanese man, came to the Pacific Garden Mission. And they said, “You know, can we help you?” and so on. Then they said, “What are you looking for?” He said, “I’m looking for truth.” They said, “Oh, we can help you there. We can tell you who truth is.” And he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life—Jesus Christ. And the Japanese man said, “I’ve never heard of a man being true.” Oh yeah, that’s God in flesh. God doesn’t change. And so truth will always be truth.
Number two: If I found the truth in Christ and His words, I can rest in it. Paul is the one penning it. God’s speaking through him to a younger preacher named Timothy. And he’s talking about these folks. He’s in 2 Timothy 3:7. He says, “Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” They’re just always trying to learn a little bit more, so maybe one day they’ll get to the truth. I’m for learning, but, you know, I don’t have to keep learning about some things because I have the truth. I’ve got it. I don’t have to check out what’s the next, the latest, the greatest, the newest. I don’t have to check all that out. I’ve got truth. I can say, “Phew,” whatever they say, that’s all right. I’ve got the truth. There’s peace there.
That kind of leads to the last point here. Look over in Jeremiah 6, verse number 16. Jeremiah 6, verse number 16. Remember, “I, the Lord, I change not.” The same God over there in the Great Awakening, same today. Same in the Old Testament, same today. New Testament, same today. “I change not.”
Now, because of that, look over here in Jeremiah 6. Look in verse number 16. Jeremiah 6:16. Y’all there tonight? Amen? Good deal. He says, Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths.” You can find those old paths in truth, and they’ll be in the same place because they don’t change. God doesn’t change. “Where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find what?” You shall find what? “Rest for your soul.” Now, the sad part: “But they said, We will not walk therein.”
But you say, you know what? I’m not looking for the new and latest and greatest and all this other. I’ve got the truth, and I’m going to stand and look and see those people that walked in that way right there, and that’s the way I’m going to walk. God says, you know what? You’ll find rest for your soul. I just—not that I’m anything special, but I’ve got his truth, and I know the truth isn’t going to change because Jesus is God in flesh, is truth, and he doesn’t change. Peace.
Those who are always trying to figure out where the polls are and where everybody is, there’s no peace, no rest for their soul. But you say, “Well, by the way, we didn’t have—we didn’t make time to get on it.” But by the way, that’s why we want a Bible that doesn’t change. Amen. Don’t add to it; don’t take away from it. Well, there’s just—there’s rest. You say, not trying to think I’m all that, but praise the Lord, the Lord’s all that, and I’ve got his truth, and there’s rest for your soul.
You know, it’s interesting. You study some of these false religions and find out how they’ve changed. Check out when Charles Taze Russell, the founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses, check out when he said the Lord was going to come back at the beginning, then what he said later on. Find out what Joseph Smith said at the beginning and what he said towards the end about the Lord coming back on the home. Find out how the Catholics have changed over the years. Oh, my goodness.
Praise the Lord. The Lord is unchangeable. Always, always, always the same. “I change not.”
Original File: Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂I change not＂ - Sunday PM 08⧸10⧸2025 [F7zbvJ1OJ6I]