“Nothing Changes
if
Nothing Changes”
By
Pastor M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says “To every [thing there is] a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up [that which is] planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace”.
This is probably one of, if not the most quoted scripture when it comes to dealing with change.
So today we are using this scripture and we are going to be dealing with the change. Understand that Nothing changes if Nothing changes.
The statement “Change is inevitable; misery is optional” is truer than many of us care to admit. Somehow, we imagine that it is possible to live without change. However, we can no more live and not have change than we can jump without feeling the impact of gravity. Just as gravity will pull you down when you jump change must happen in life, for to live is to grow; to grow is to change. Therefore, to live is to change, and any thought that we can avoid change in life is pure illusion.
What was once considered normal is now not because of change. At one time it was normal to have the television go off at a certain time of the night, but because of change that is not normal any more. There was a time when telephones in peoples home and in every room of the house was the norm, but because of change most people don’t have a home phone why because cell phones have changed the way we communicate. Automobiles, Airplanes, Trains, and Cruise Ships have changed the way we travel. The internet has changed the way we do business and meet people. Because of change what was once a big world has become ever increasingly small because it is nothing to get on your computer and Skype a person on the other side of the planet. That is the result of change.
African Americans are called that because there was a change from what we were called to this.
Women have rights just like men because something had changed.
The NFL is no longer on strike because something had changed.
One man said Change is inevitable – Change is constant. Change is going to happen regardless, the question is how can I cause change to work in my favor. I can try to resist change and try to stay the way I am or release my resistance to change and be like a hot air balloon that goes up when you remove the weight of the sandbags from it. So many of us hesitate to throw the sand out and still anticipate we will continue to move upward. But the Bible says in Hebrews 12:1 “lay aside every weight”, in other words there is some stuff that has to change.
There is a saying that goes:- “NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES, AND IF I KEEP DOING WHAT I'VE ALWAYS DONE, I'LL KEEP GETTING WHAT I'VE ALWAYS GOT, AND WILL KEEP FEELING WHAT I ALWAYS FELT."
That is a true statement because to do the same thing over and over without ever having something change and you keep looking for a different outcome to happen is just crazy.
There is a certain movie that comes on T.V. ever so often and I like to watch it, my wife says you have seen that movie a million times why do you watch it so much, I said maybe this time it will end differently, she says that’s crazy. If no-one rewrote the movie and changed the ending then it is not going to end differently WHY – because Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes.
Albert Einstein said”- “The definition of insanity (crazy) is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"
"Nothing changes if nothing changes, and if I keep doing what I've always done, I'll keep getting what I've always got, and will keep feeling what I always felt." Although this is a true statement it is just another way of saying that you are stuck in a rut. One of the definitions of rut is “A fixed, usually boring routine” If you continue to do the same thing in that rut you will stay in that rut.
EXAMPLE:- if your car is stuck in the snow or mud and you continually spin your tires all you are going to do is go deeper and deeper in the same place, but if you get out of the car and place some salt or something under your tires that will give it something to grab onto – that is called traction – then when you step on the gas pedal and your tires begin to spin because it has something to grab onto it begins to cause your car to move and soon you are no longer stuck. Unless there is a change you will be stuck in that rut.
Many people are stuck in a rut in their lives they continually do the same thing over and over again only going deeper and deeper into the rut they are currently in. If you watch shows like hoarders and intervention you see people that are stuck in a rut in their lives and unless there is a change they will literally die as a result of the rut they are stuck in. They refuse to change because their mindset is that I am comfortable or I can control what I am doing and they are fearful of change.
Woodrow Wilson’s gave a very wise warning: “If you want to make enemies try to change something.”
Change can be very threatening. WHY – because change will bring with it a level of uncertainty and because of that uncertainty people develop an attitude or spirit of fear – 2nd Timothy 1:7 says “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind”. Therefore we should not be fearful of change. However, because of this attitude or spirit of fear people sometimes unconsciously and sometimes consciously become ineffective and irrelevant and ultimately die all because they refused to change.
It happens with individuals, marriages, businesses, organizations, and unfortunately with some churches. WATCH THIS:- Even the people of Christ's day who were looking for and expecting the promised Messiah didn't accept him when he came because he didn't come the way they expected him to come, nor did he do what they wanted him to do (that is, overthrow the oppressing Roman rule). As a result they rejected Christ, the Messiah, and clung to their irrelevant religious traditions and missed out on the opportunity to change. Traditions and rituals are effective as long as they are relevant. Refusal to change is called stubbornness and the Bible talks about stubbornness some 28 times and 19 more times it uses the word "stiff-necked," these words are talking about people that refuse to change. Understand God cannot allow people to lead comfortable lives when stubbornness separates them from Him. God wants everyone to let go of stubbornness and return to Him – in other words change.
While truth never changes, times change, people change, situations change, and methods change so when our traditions are no longer relevant, we need to be open to change – WHY - for to live is to grow; to grow is to change.
It is crazy to continue to do the same thing and think something different is going to happen.
There’s a saying that goes prayer changes things. It is crazy to pray and not expect change to take place. Acts 12 :12-15 Peter was in jail, the people began to pray for his deliverance, while they were praying God delivered him and he came to the house where they were praying at and knocked on the door, a girl by the name of Rhoda answered the door and realized it was Peter ran and told the ones that were praying for his release that Peter was at the gate, they said girl you are mad – WHY – because they were not expecting change to happen.
When you pray expect change to take place. Job 22:8 says “Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways”. That’s why we say our decree because we expect things to change. WATCH THIS:- We are not just saying We Decree ministers, musicians, choirs, and workers because it sounds good and it is a nice way to start service, we are saying it believing that a change is going to happen. The church is growing, people are coming in, prayers are being answered WATCH THIS:– that’s change. Rather everyone likes it or not its change and things are changing because prayer changes things.
2nd Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”
Things change, people change, circumstances change, conditions change, but truth remains the same. WATCH THIS – John 14:6 says “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me”. Jesus said He was truth –RIGHT – WATCH THIS:- Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever”. Jesus never changes, since Jesus is the Word of God in the flesh – WACTH THIS – God’s word never changes, therefore, if it is in the Word of God it can’t change regardless of whose feelings are hurt or what laws are passed.
The topic of this sermon states Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes
The Serenity Prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr goes like this: God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. (There are some things that will change in our life and there are some things that will never change and we must be able to accept that which we cannot change regardless if we like it or not. We can’t change our past but we can change our present situation that will ultimately change your future.)
Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him Forever in the next. Amen.
One of the most successful programs to help people with their chronic struggles has been the 12 step program. All 12 step recovery programs start essentially the same way:
Step 1 is about taking a step ---- I admit to myself that something is seriously wrong in my life.
• I have made a mess of my life.
• I admit this and quit trying to play games with myself.
• I realize that my life has become unmanageable in many ways. It is not under my control anymore.
• I do things that I later regret doing and tell myself that I will not do them again. But I do. I keep on doing them, in spite of my regrets, my denials, my vows, my cover-ups and my facades. The Bible says it like this in Romans 7 “For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that [it is] good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but [how] to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me”.
Step 1 is all about brokenness! Anybody broken?
Step 2 is a step of hope, faith and realization. It is a big step towards God. In essence it says: In spite of all of the failures in my own life - all of the broken promises, hard feelings, disappointments, failures, destructive behavior, hatred, anxiety, depression or guilt - there is still hope. There is hope because greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world and with Christ all things are possible. I am incapable of doing it myself, I need God’s help. Philippians 3:13-14 says “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but [this] one thing [I do], forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus”.
Step 2 is all about honesty! You must be honest with yourself and say I can’t make it on my own, I have tried it and I made a mess of my life. I don’t have it all together I need to change.
Step 3 is a step of letting go. I have made a conscious and willful decision to turn my will and all my life’s circumstances over to the care of God. 1st Peter 5:6-7 says “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”.
Step 3 is all about letting go. Now you don’t have to be an alcoholic or an addict for these things to help. In fact, these are the essential first steps any of us must take if we are to grow in our walk with the Lord. Remember change must happen in life, for to live is to grow; to grow is to change.
1. STEP 1 BROKENNESS - For Psalm 51:17 says “The sacrifices of God [are] a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”. This is I have been broken, my life is messed up, I am a shamed of the things I have done. When I look in the mirror I no longer can stand to see what I see because that’s not me anymore. I am broken so Lord I’m giving it all to you. It’s jacked up, but I am ready for a change. Lord I need you to put the shattered pieces of my life back together.
Isaiah 61:3 says “To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified”. God wants to take your brokenness and put you together a new. Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes.
2. STEP 2 HOPE, FAITH AND REALIZATION – My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ and righteousness. Romans 5:2 says “By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God”. FAITH – Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. I’m standing at the break of darkness in my life, I don’t know where the next step is going to take me, but I have faith that God will change my situation around. WHY – REALIZATION – I realize that in myself I have made a mess of things, but I realize what the Bible says in Philippians 4:3 says “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me”.
3. STEP 3 LETTING GO AND RELINQUISHMENT – you can’t hold on to stuff and expect things to change for nothing changes if nothing changes. When you make up in your mind to let go of some stuff then God can do what no other power can do. 1st Peter 5:7 says “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you”. Casting come from the Greek Word “Apobole” which means to cast away, loss, and rejection. If you want things to change you must cast off some stuff.
Understand people of God that God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. If you are going to grow in your walk, you must be willing to allow God to help you to change, to be more and more like Jesus.
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
WATCH THIS:- If you came up for prayer at altar call and got a good blessing 6 months ago and you and that man or you and that woman are still living together and you are not married – WATCH THIS – nothing has changed you are still living in sin and are on your way to hell – WHY – because nothing changes if nothing changes.
You might say well I don’t believe that God would send me to hell. WATCH THIS:- 1st Corinthians 6:9-10 says “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God”. Nothing changes if nothing changes.
If you come to church every Sunday, pay you tithes and offerings, and even sing the praise songs loud and with enthusiasm, but you still have the same carnal mind then nothing in your life has changed because your mind is still the same. Romans 8:7 says “Because the carnal mind [is] enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be”. So we see that this carnal mind must be changed for nothing changes if nothing changes – Romans 12 :2 says “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God”.
TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND – Transform comes from the Greek Word “metamorphoo” which means to undergo a change in the structure a genetic modification. A caterpillar is not a beautiful creature, it crawls around on the ground vulnerable to predators, but at some point in its life it under goes a transformation both physically and mentally. The transformation physically causes the genetic structure to change and produces wings of a multitude of colors, that makes it possible for the new creature to fly and look prettier than before, but also there’s a transformation that takes place in the mind. When it was a caterpillar all it could do was crawl around, but after the transformation in the mind that caterpillar all of a sudden realizes he can fly. He can rise above being stepped on he can out maneuver its predators. If there hadn’t been a change then nothing would have changed.
WATCH THIS:- 2nd Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new”.
YOU CANNOT BE IN CHRIST AND STILL DO WHAT YOU WERE DOING BEFORE YOU GOT IN CHRIST – WHY – BECAUSE IF YOU ARE STILL DOING THE SAME THING THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE AND NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES.
You must have a changed mind
A changed heart
A changed walk
A changed talk
A changed life
Things you used to do you can’t do anymore – Why – because of change.
Places you used to go you can’t go anymore – Why – because of change.
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
CLOSING: - My mind goes to the 10 men in the Bible that had leprosy. Luke 17:11-17
“And it came to pass, as he went to Jerusalem, that he passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off: And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?”
I like to believe in my spiritual imagination that when they got in front of the priest, no doubt someone said, Priest after you pronounced us unclean, after you stripped us of all our dignity, and possessions, after you made us to yell unclean, after you left us out there all alone to die, after all we been through, I just want to ask you the question “HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW”
Baby sin is a form of leprosy that it eats slowly away at a person killing them in a very humiliating, degrading, uncomfortable way. In sin we are clothed in corruption, our identity is taken away you look in the mirror and don’t even realize that you are a child of God. A spiritual vale is placed over our eyes so that we are blinded to the truth. The devil humiliates you and causes you to degrade your body. He destroys your reputation, separates you from those that love you, leaves you out there in sin to die all alone.
But one day you meet Jesus and cry unto Him Lord have mercy on me and He picks you up and turns you around, changes you into a new creature, old things are passes away and behold all things have become new.
You get a new walk, a new talk, a new point of view, you get a new attitude. No longer are you like you used to be, you’ve been changed.
Something changed because something changed.
The devil had a hold on me, but Jesus set me free.
Now that I have been changed, Devil I got a question for you I need to know HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW!!!!!!!!. You thought you had me, but HOW DO YOU LIKE ME NOW.
WATCH THIS:- You can’t say that if nothing changes. WHY – because nothing changes if nothing changes.
I am reminded of a song that we used to sing that goes “I went to a meeting one night and my heart wasn’t right, but something got a hold of me”. It was the Holy Ghost it changed me. The Holy Ghost made me anew. It was the Holy Ghost. And now I am no longer the same.
As long as you stay in that condition you are always going to get the same results, but if you would just change and begin to make the steps toward God, He will turn your situation around. Remember Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes.
You must make up in your mind that I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.
You must change from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ.
From lost to found.
From hurt to healed.
From sad to happy.
From out of my mind to being in perfect peace.
TAKE THAT FIRST STEP - WHY – because change begins with that 1st step and Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes.
Pastor M.L. Maughmer, Jr.
