you'll find our text again in the book of Philippians and also in the book of Hebrews. Say what a joy it has been for me to be here again. Thank the Lord for the kindness of Mother Daryl and Debbie in allowing us to be here. Thank the Lord for this open door. I appreciate you preachers being here tonight. There's enough preachers in the building tonight to earn it, I'm sure. But we thank the Lord for your kindness. My wife always tells me I ought not to say it, On a foggy night like tonight, I don't know if I would have come to hear you preach if you were preaching. I'm pretty confident that I probably wouldn't have, especially if I got close to that brown recliner in Winterville, Georgia. I'd probably be in it. A couple of little verses we've used as a basis of our study these days. Philippians chapter three, Paul's writing this from a Mamrean prison after writing half of the New Testament. He says in verse 10, that I may know him. I don't know about you, that is my desire tonight, whatever days I've got left upon the earth. I wanna know Him. The little word know is the word for intimacy between a husband and a wife. I do not want a surface relationship with God. I don't want a religious relationship with God. I want an intimate relationship with God. I wanna be known as a God chaser. I wanna be running after Him. And then in Hebrews chapter 11, most people believe that Paul made this statement in verse six, but without faith, it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe. But He is. So we have taken these two phrases and we're preaching in these days on knowing who God is, knowing who God is. Taken it in a Bible college, they would call it theology. Theo being the word God, ology the study of, a study of who God is. And as the old Presbyterian preacher out of Simpsonville, South Carolina, Brother Carl Robbins said, good theology creates great doxology. There'll never be praise, you'll never be emotional down at the house of God unless you get a big God. Praise is the water in which all of our enemies are drowned. If you're having troubles tonight, go to praise in God. The devil don't like praise. He doesn't like to get around. He likes dead services. He loves dead people. He loves to get around unemotional things. He loves funeral homes. You go to praise in him, he seems to want to scatter. And so we've been looking at a couple of the attributes of God. On Sunday evening, we looked at using a little phrase, God is faithful. And then last evening, we looked at God is omniscient. And I've told you each night as we have studied these attributes, there's been a doxology erupt in me. And it is the doxology of holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, thou art holy. Tonight, if you have the Bible, I wanna begin in the book of James, chapter number one, and I wanna look tonight at the fact that God is immutable. God is immutable. The state of not changing. but it is bigger than that. The little prefix M tonight, I am is a little prefix no. Mutable or mutation. God has no ability to change. He can't change. Don't try to change him. Don't try to bury his arm behind his back in prayer thinking you can change his mind. It's not gonna change. He never changes. And of course, that's extremely difficult for you and I, because we've changed since we come in the door. And I don't doubt some of you changed your mind while you've been sitting there. We are known for change. We love to change. Old people know more about change than anybody. The days are often long and the years are short because of change. We live in a day and age where people change churches, change jobs, change cars, change clothes. change hairdos, hair colors, change beards, beard dudes, change furniture, change carpet, why some even change mates. So when we run into someone who never changes, it's a shock to our system. We cannot even comprehend it, that he is immutable. As we unpack the thought of God being immutable tonight, I would begin in James chapter one and mention a thought or two about the determination of his immutability. He says in James chapter number one, verse number two, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into diverse temptations. Joy there is the highest peak of happiness. When is the last time when you were fighting hell by the acre you just had you a happy spell? You listening to me tonight? What James said to do? What do I want to do that for? I will have drowned that which is bothering you. He says, knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. I thought it was interesting, he says there in verse two, to count it all joy, if you fall, no. Not a possibility, oh no. If it's coming, it's just a matter of when it's gonna get here. It's on the way. The question is, long before it gets here, where are you gonna run? Surely you're not gonna run to some preacher. You're not gonna call up your buddy, talk to him about your troubles. Well, Lord, he's gonna change his mind while he's talking to you. Why don't we run to somebody? has no ability to change. James mentions him in James chapter number one in verse 17. Every good gift, every perfect gift is from above. Cometh down from the Father of lights. There's no darkness in him. He's ever shining. James says there is no variableness in him. He's a perfect being. He's never fickled. He's never cloudy. He's never under the circumstances. He's not subject to change. There's no ebbs and flows with him. There's no one day, woo, ain't God good. Next day pray for me, I don't know how I'm gonna make it. None of that with him. One of the old Puritans said that he is the king with no shadows. He says, there is no shadow of turning with him. Oh, long before trouble gets here tonight, we determine in our heart, we're not gonna run to a human tonight. We're not gonna seek help from a human tonight. We're not gonna seek their opinion tonight. We're gonna run to the God who never changes. I say, holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, our holy, determination. Trouble's coming, just a matter of when it's going to get here. And for some of us, it is already here. And you still have time to So run to Him. He is the God who never changes. There's no variableness with Him. There's no shadow turning. There's no fickleness with Him. I'm glad of that tonight. He's always light. There's never no darkness with Him. He's not gonna talk to you and give you counsel tonight and comfort you and then go talk about you. No, He's not gonna do that. He is a God tonight who is immutable. If you have the Bible there tonight, Malachi, could I mention not only the determination of immutability, but could I mention the demonstration of immutability? Our Lord is closing out the Old Testament He's not gonna speak to his people again for 400 years. And he wants to leave them with a good message. Wonder what he's gonna tell them. I don't know about you, if I'd have been God, I probably wouldn't have left them this message. This is what he left them. And the more I think about it, it's a good message. because it's gonna take them through the dark hour of the soul for 400 years. He says in Malachi chapter three, verse six, for I am the Lord. I am the self-existent God tonight. I am the God, if you go back a zillion years in eternity past, I was in the present tense then, He said, I am now in the present tense. Go a zillion years into the future, I shall still be in the present tense. I don't know about you having been in the 10th grade on three different occasions I told you last night. I always had problems with verb tenses. As a matter of fact, I won the preacher boys contest at Bob Jones University my senior year there. And Junior was there the night I preached. And he told them to give it to the second runner up. He said that I slaughtered the king's English that night. And he said that I was a lame duck. I would never amount to anything. He's dead, I'm still preaching. but I was glad when I met Jesus. He doesn't need to be conjugated. Oh, for me, it is I was, I am, I shall be, but he is not. He is I am, I am, I am. All three tenses. This is what he closes out with. For I am the Lord, I change not. He says, I want you to know ahead of time, there is no mutation with me. When the sun ceases to shine and the moon turns to blood and all the stars fall from their orbit and the universe is burnt with a fervent heat, And the redeemed of the Lord are changed in a twinkling of an eye into His likeness. We shall spend all of eternity with the never-changing God. He never changed yesterday. He's not gonna change today, and He shall not change tomorrow. I say holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, Lord holy. I wanna run to Him when I'm having trouble. He never changes. He never changes. Demonstration in His nature. Continuing that demonstration in His nature in Psalms 90. The psalmist has something to say about the demonstration in His nature. I love this. This is so good. I hate to even show it to you. I know you ain't gonna believe it. Psalms 90. He says in verse number two, he says, before the mountains were brought forth, wherever thou hast formed the earth in the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. He said he was here before they formed the earth. That little word earth is a deep word, I don't even know if you can get it, not an extremely deep Hebrew word. It's the word dirt. grandchildren are asking me how old I am, and I said, I'm as old as dirt. You'll never hear God saying that. He'll always say I'm older than dirt. He said, I predate dirt. He said, I was here before dirt was. Oh, when all the dirt and dust of the universe is gone, he'll still be God. He's from everlasting to everlasting. He is continual. He is perpetual. He is self-existent. He is beyond the past, the present and future. God didn't change yesterday. He won't change today and he shall not change tomorrow. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. Our holy. It is not in his nature to change at all. It is demonstrated in his nature. In Psalms 93, Psalmist would make this statement about his immutability. He says, thy throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting. So not only is he unchanging, he says my throne is unchanging. It has no beginning. It has no end. It is established. It is fixed. He is not up for election this year. They're not gonna vote on him next year. And a zillion years in the future, they'll still never vote on him. He is forever. I remember when I first got started, they taught me that when he was here upon the earth, that he is a prophet, preacher. Now he's gone back to heaven and he's now a priest. One day he's gonna come and he'll be a king. I don't believe a word of that. There's never been a time when he wasn't a prophet. There's never been a time when he wasn't a priest. There's never been a time when he was not a king. He has always been, he's never changed. I love that. I'm gonna stop right there and say, holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, they are holy. Oh, what a God we have tonight. I noticed in Psalms 102, thinking about the demonstration in his nature tonight, the psalmist says in Psalms 102 and verse 26, they shall perish. Can I give you a good word tonight so you'd be prepared? You go to the doctor and he tells you your terminal. You can laugh at him. I want to tell you tonight, everybody in the building, if Jesus don't come back, you're terminal. As a matter of fact, you're falling apart right where you're sitting. I was reading an article some time ago. Every hour, every hour, there's around a million dead particles fall off from us. Wow. 65% of all the dust in your house got your DNA in it. Oh, you falling apart right where we're talking. We can bring that CSI crowd in here tonight with them little old glass things and do some scraping around. Man, they'll find all kinds of you. bench. You can do everything you want to do, try to live as long as you can live, but you've got an appointment. He said, they shall perish, but thou shall endure. Yea, all of them shall wax all like a garment, as a vesture that shalt thou change him, and they shall be changed. With thou art the same, thy years shall have no end. I'm glad I got a God tonight that will never change. He's never gonna die. And because I'm in him and he's in me, I'm never gonna die either. Oh, I'm gonna exhale for sure. One day I'm gonna lose my breath, but I'm gonna make one step into eternity and I'm gonna catch my breath over there and I shall breathe forever. And then what he told Martha down there in the graveyard, he that believeth in me shall never die. Oh, how come that can be? Because our God is immutable tonight. He never changes. Oh, demonstrated in his nature. If you have the Bible there tonight at Deuteronomy chapter 32, it is demonstrated in his name. Moses gives God an unusual name. I don't know that I would have given God this name, but the more I see it, the more I pondered, I said, man, that is a good, immutable name that Moses hung on God. Deuteronomy 32 and verse three, because I will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. What kind of name you gonna give him, Moses? He is the rock. Oh, wow. What a good name to give our Lord tonight. Isn't it we have been told that he brought us up out of a horrible pit, set our feet upon a rock, and established our goings tonight. We have been set tonight on the immutable God. Underneath of us is a foundation that shall never change. It hasn't changed for a zillion years and it shall never change for a zillion more. That foundation has no ability to change at all. Demonstrated in his name. Old Samuel picks up that thought and expands on it, talking about the demonstration of his immutability in his name in 2 Samuel chapter 22. Watch old Samuel expand on this rock name. I love it. He says in 2 Samuel 22 verse 32, for who is God? Save the Lord. Who is a rock? Save our God. God is my strength and power. He maketh my way perfect. He maketh my feet. Time out. Hold on. He did what? He says, he gives me hinds feet. If he has placed you upon this solid rock tonight, Samuel says he has given you hinds feet. Years ago, I used to preach a lot up in Alaska and middle boy went with me one summer and we took a trip on the Alaskan Gulf. It was a day trip. And I got tired of watching eagles fish salmon out of the water. Got tired of watching whales come up out of the water. And I went inside the boat and sat down. And I glanced out of the corner of my eye, a large slate mountain. I'd say it was 10 times bigger than a stone mountain. There wasn't a tree on it at all. Gigantic mountain goat with this large rack on his head was just gingerly walking up the side of that slate mountain. old captain of the boat come on and he says, I guess y'all wondering how that mountain go walking up the side of that mountain. I said, this old Georgia boy is wondering that. He made this statement. He said, he's got hinds feet. He said, God created him with pads on the bottom of his feet. It's impossible for him to slip. He can't fall. I say, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, thou art holy. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking, saying, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but holy, W-H-O-L-L-Y, holy, lean on Jesus' name. Holy, holy, holy, Lord. What in the world would I want to stand on Him for? because He never changes. There is nowhere in this universe that you can stand on anything that's not changing. I don't care if it's a Democrat. I don't care if it's a Republican. I don't care if it's a Baptist with enough isms behind his name to float a battleship. He or she will change. He won't. He never, ever changes. How come? He has no ability to change. He cannot change. The determination, the demonstration of His immutability. Could I mention tonight the demands of His immutability? The demands, so important, the demands of His immutability. Could I mention a principal demand of his immutability? Be careful tonight. Be careful tonight. Be careful tonight in ascribing to yourself immutability. Babbage is bad about this. Oh, yeah. If you find yourself ascribing immutability to yourself, put your hand over your mouth and get in repentance mode. Could you give us some examples, preacher? I'm glad you asked me. I was going to give them to you anyway. How about this one? I'm always on time. Ain't nobody always but Him. Oh, how about this one? I always tell the truth. Be careful tonight in attributing to yourself immutability. I have always been faithful. Oh, this is one way out there. I'm always right. There's only one that is always right. I've always been cooperative. I always go to church. Oh, be careful tonight in the tribing to our self immutability. There is only one tonight who knows it all. And who can say, I am always. I'm glad of that tonight, aren't you? I'm talking about the principle demands of immutability. I'll close out tonight in Jude. There's only one chapter in Jude, so we'll go to that chapter. And mention the prayer demands of immutability. I have always felt like, and you may not agree with me, you can be wrong if you want to, I've always believed that Jude was a prayer. You say, preacher, how come you think it's a prayer? Because it ends with amen. It's the only reason why I've always thought it was a prayer. Prayer demands of immutability. He says in Jude 1, Verse one, Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved, preserved in Jesus Christ. If you're saved tonight, Jude said you have been preserved in Jesus Christ. The word preserved is a very strong word tonight. It means to guard. It means to keep the focus upon. It has the idea of leaving one in the same state of the one in whom he is in. So tonight, Because I am saved and I have been placed in Christ tonight. I have now entered into the unchanging world. And he is beginning to change me into his likeness. But oh, it's bigger than that. He said, Tom, he says, I am going to guard you and I'm gonna keep my eye on you till you get home. So tonight you can go ahead and go to sleep. You don't have to be scared, because he says, I'm going to stay up and keep my eye on you the whole night. I say, holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. How in this world can he do that? Because he's immutable. He never changes. Talking about the prayer. demands of immutability. He says as he ends this prayer in verse 24, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. I have been encouraged this year with that little phrase, able to keep you from falling. Said he gave me high and sweet. Some time ago, my oldest boy, which is so good to us, he calls me every day. I don't say I ever need anything, because it'll be there. He'll go get it. But he called me some time ago and had the talk with me. Had the talk with me. And if you're 76 years old and you're traveling about 45 weeks a year, you know what the talk is. He said, Daddy, he said, the road's killing you. And he said, the road's killing my mama. He said, Daddy, he said, it's time for you to come off the road and get us your little church here and finish up your days. I said, that's an excellent idea. I said, I only got one problem. And I know he thought it was going to be money, because he's got plenty of it. And that would have been his next statement. Daddy, I'll just pay you salary. I said, I got one problem. He said, Daddy, what in the world is that? I said, in 1992, God told me to go into evangelism and quit pastoring, and I ain't heard nothing from him since. Now, if he was to tell me that I could quit this, what I'm doing right now, I wouldn't even finish this sermon. I'd get in the car, and I'd head towards that motel, and earlier than I was gonna leave in the morning, I'd leave for Georgia. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I had just booked a meeting in Missouri. And just here recently, I booked a meeting in Kansas. But after I got off the phone with him, I went down in my den into a cabinet where I keep some of my papers, and I put them in there. I turned around and come back out. And as I turned, I fell in the middle of the floor. And craziest thing, I fell on this side, and I cracked the rib on this side. And I'm laying there on the floor, and she's laughing at me. I asked the lady, I said, what are you laughing at me for? She said, you're screaming like a girl. I said, it hurt. I hurt bad. I asked her later, I said, how in this world did I fall on this side and crack the rib on this side? She said, because all that weight come down on it. Right there from that verse, God assured me. He said, Tom, He said, if you keep running after me, You stay in that book. He said, I'm not gonna tell you that I'm not gonna let that happen to you again physically. He said, but I'll never let that happen to you spiritually. Oh, you think of the preachers today that that's happening to them spiritually. Oh, they've fallen out, they've ruined their ministry and people are laughing at them. Oh, you stay after God. You stay close to the immutable God. You keep running after God. Let everybody else do what they want to. If they want to go to hell, if they want to be bitter, if they want to be angry, let them go. You keep running after God. He says, I'll keep you from falling. I say, holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, they are holy. Oh, Wesley said it best when he said, great father of glory, pure father of lights, thine angels adore thee with veiling their sight. Oh Lord, we would render, oh help us to see "'Tis only the splendor of light that hideth thee, "'immortal, invisible, God only wise, "'in light accessible, hid from our eyes, "'most blessed, most glorious, the ancient of days, "'almighty victorious, thy great name we praise.'" The Lord told me today that I was gonna be on a deserted island. And he was to tell me that I could only take one verse with me. I'd certainly wanna take Hebrews 13, eight. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. Oh, John told us that, behold, what manner of the love the Father has bestowed upon us. And we should be called the sons of God. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. When I see what I was lost compared to what I am today, as a saved person, it is nothing to compare that one day I shall be like him. I too shall never change while the ages roll on. I say, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, thou art holy. Preacher, it's yours. Thank you. ♪ Holy Lord God Almighty ♪ Early in the morning ♪ Our song shall rise to Thee ♪ Holy, holy, holy mercy Gee.