Over the last few weeks, I have been thinking about 3 things I Can’t Change
Humanly speaking, we like to think that we can change anything, and if we try hard enough, maybe we can even change the world!
But the Word of God tells us that there are actually very few things we can change
1/ x 3, the Word of God tells us we can change our attitude
1 Peter 3: 8 ‘keep a humble attitude’
2/ x 11, the Word of God tells us we can change our plans
2 Corinthians 1: 17 ‘I changed my plan’
3/ x 7, the Word of God tells us we can change our clothes
2 Samuel 12: 20 ‘David…changed his clothes’
4/ x 6, the Word of God tells us we can change the name of something or someone
2 Chronicles 36: 4 ‘he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim’
So, according to the Word of God, I can change my attitude, I can change my plans, I can change my clothes and I can change the name of something or someone
And here’s me thinking I can change anything and maybe even change the World –
silly me!
The Sunday that Pastors Terrense & Shalom were ordained, they shared these 3 Faith Statements about our ministry here at the NIC – these 3 Faith Statements reminded me about the 3 Things I Can’t Change
1/ I can’t change the unbeliever
Who We Are – ‘saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’
I can’t change the unbeliever – I cannot persuade them to believe in Christ and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior
Testimony: Sid, my father-in-law for 44 years
Jennifer and I have witnessed to him all that time and when we talk to him about Jesus, he walks out of the room
I’m sure you too have a family member, a friend or colleague whom you have been witnessing to for years, but they refuse to surrender their lives to Christ
Why can’t we change the unbeliever!? – Only the ‘saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’ can change them
Testimony: Many years ago in our first Church, we had a family of 7 people
Parents called Chris and Mary Marshall
By NZ standards, they were very poor, they lived in a 2-bedroom house at a very small fishing village called Rangitata Huts, 1-hour drive from our Town
They were a dysfunctional family, all unemployed, the eldest son was addicted to drugs and had AIDS and the eldest daughter was severely mentally handicapped
One Sunday they all came to Church and Chris and Mary and their eldest son got saved, water baptized and for years we went out to their home to do Bible Study with them
We have a piece of furniture in our home that reminds us of them – the father Chris and one of his sons did a furniture restoration Course at the local Polytech and practiced their new-found skill on a cabinet that is now in our lounge room
Dear friends, I can’t change the unbeliever and neither can you
Acts 15: 11 ‘We believe that we are all saved…by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.’
2/ I can’t change the believer
Mission – ‘make disciples’
I can’t change the believer – I cannot persuade them to follow Jesus and obey Him
Please remember that there are 2 types of disciples
False disciples: are false converts, they are disciples in name only, they follow Jesus for a short time and then they abandon Him
John 6: 66 ‘At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted him’
True disciples: are true converts, they follow Jesus faithfully and never give up
John 8:31 ‘Jesus said to the people who believed in Him, “You are truly My disciples if you remain faithful to My teachings’.
Testimony: we cannot disciple false converts
Years ago, we had a lady in our 2nd Church who would call out to me in a very loud voice while I was preaching on Sundays and say stupid things
The Elders of the Church refused to do anything about it so one Sunday during the Message as she called out to me, I interrupted her and told her to be quiet. Immediately she lifted up her newspaper and hid behind it. After that Sunday, she never returned to the Church
Dear friends, I certainly can’t change false disciples and I’m not even going to try, and, I can’t change true disciples either, neither can you
Yes, I can help the true disciple in the Word of God and prayer but it’s God Who changes them, not me
Philippians 1:6 ‘And I am certain that God, Who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns’.
3/ I can’t change me
Vision – ‘conformed to the image and character of our Lord Jesus Christ’
I can’t change myself (Just ask Jennifer) – I cannot conform myself to the image and character of Christ
Jeremiah 13:23 ‘Can an Ethiopian change the color of his skin? Can a leopard change its spots?’
So, why can’t I change myself!?
Romans 7: 14 ‘The trouble is with me, for I am all too human’
One of the great lies that the unbelieving world tells us is that we are (a)basically good and that all we have to do to change ourselves is to (b)look within ourselves for the answer
(a) No! The Word of God tells us that we are not good
Romans 7: 18 ‘I know that nothing good lives in me’
(b) No! The answer is not within me
Romans 7: 15 ‘I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate’.
If I’m going to change, I need to look outside myself to the Lord Who is indeed good and ask Him to change my heart
Romans 2: 29 ‘(a) change of heart (is) produced by the Spirit’
Testimony: Over the last few years the Christian ‘world’ has been hurt by the moral failure of several high-profile Christians
Bill Hybels – Willow Creek Community Church
Carl Lentz – New York Hillsong Church
Ravi Zacharias – RCMI
If these men could change themselves, they would have repented from their sin, but they didn’t! Their attention was on their own ‘celebrity’ status and their adoring ‘fans’, but not on the Lord
Isn’t it sad that we don’t hear about successful Christian leaders like Luis Palau who passed away earlier this year – no scandals!
(In over 50 years of ministry, he and the Luis Palau Association have shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with tens of millions of people through evangelistic events and media. He spoke in over 80 countries with more than 1 million registered decisions for Jesus Christ. He authored close to 50 books).
Dear friends, I can’t change myself and neither can you
I love what the Apostle Paul said about himself
1 Corinthians 15: 10 ‘But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out His grace on me’
Let’s close in prayer and ask God to change the 3 Thing I (We) Can’t Change:
1/ Lord, we ask you to change the unbeliever by the ‘saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ’. Amen
2/ Lord, we ask you to change the believer, we ask you to make them true ‘disciples’ and faithful followers of Jesus. Amen
3/ Lord, we ask you change us, we ask you to conform us to the ‘image and character of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior’. Amen
revdotdavid 