In Isaiah chapter 55, let's look
at our text tonight, Isaiah 55.
Verse 8. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the
rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not
thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out
with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and the
hills shall break forth before you into singing. and all the
trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn
shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come
up the myrtle tree. And it shall be to the Lord for
a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Let's
pray. Lord, thank you for your word.
I pray that you'd Reveal yourself and your way, Lord, to us tonight. Your son said, I am the way.
And I pray, Lord, that you would teach us who you are. Reveal yourself to us in power
and by your grace. Help us to worship you, Lord. Cause us to take your yoke upon
us and learn of you And find rest tonight Lord peace
and comfort assurance In our Savior in his blessed name. Amen My thoughts are not your thoughts And we see that don't we in the
first part of this chapter he says come and buy without money
Don't come with anything. Don't come making decisions or
promises or any of that. Just come. Without anything to
offer. Without anything to trade. Without anything with which to
obtain what you need. Come to Christ. And he says here, my thoughts
are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways.
We've talked so much in the scripture how we see that there are two
ways. There's the way of God, the way of grace, the way of
free and finished salvation, and then there's the way of man,
the way of works, the way of man's will and will worship. And we see that all through as
we've talked about so much. Cain and Abel, Isaac and Ishmael
represent those two ways. And the Lord talked about that
a lot as he walked this earth, the two paths, the two gates,
the two roads, the narrow one and
the broad. There are not two legitimate
ways. There aren't two actual ways. There's really just one,
but there's two in the sense that if you reject one way and
go another way, you've gone another way. So there's two in that sense. There's God's way and man's way.
And man's way must be forsaken if man is to be saved. We have
to forsake our own way. We see what we need in the context
in verse 7, mercy and pardon. We need mercy, we need the Lord,
verse 7, who gives mercy and pardon. But he only gives it
his way. There's a way that sinners receive
mercy and pardon. There's a way that they don't.
We cannot have things our way. It's gonna be his way. And man's
way, of course, is by his own works. That's what Paul said
in Romans 10. And it's all through, again,
all through the word of God. They haven't submitted themselves
to the righteousness of God in Christ because they're going
about to establish their own righteousness. Man hates free
salvation. He doesn't hate salvation, he
just hates free salvation. And that's what the Lord calls
it. Come freely. Come without money, with nothing.
You've got nothing. You are nothing. You have nothing.
Come like that. And man's not gonna come that
way. And that's why he's saying now, your way's not my way. God's way is grace, free and
sovereign grace. Free means without a cause. He
said, I will love them freely. You know, there's a, there's
a, well, I'm not going to get into that. God's way is free. It's unconditional as far as
you're concerned. That's what without a cause means.
He didn't have any good reason to save you. Not one. Except that he loved you. That's
free. There's no condition that you
meet that would recommend you to God. I don't know how that's
confusing to people. But it is unconditional. It's
free. Look with me at Galatians chapter
1 verse 3. Galatians 1 3 grace be to you And peace From God the Father
and from our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins
That he might deliver us save us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father to whom be glory
forever and ever amen Paul just stated the simple gospel
of finished salvation right there. He gave Himself to save us. That's how we're saved right
there. And then he says this in verse 6, I marvel that you're
so soon removed from Him. To be removed from truth, to
be removed from grace, to fall from grace is to fall from Him. You're removed from Him. That's
the problem, it's Him. that called you into the grace
of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there'd
be some that would trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ." You see what he's saying there? There's two, but
there's not really two. That's what I was trying to say
a while ago. There's another God, but it's not another. It's
not a legitimate. There's not legitimately two,
but there are two in the sense that there's a true and a false. which is not another, but there
be some that trouble you, would pervert the true gospel, the
one good news that there is of Christ. But though we or an angel
from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,
so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that you have received, let him be accursed, for do I
now persuade men or God? Do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
You see how this applies to our text. It's God's way or it's
man's way. Man's gonna be real happy if
you preach what man wants to hear, but that's not God's thoughts. But I certify you brethren that
the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. Man didn't
come up with it. It's not according to man's will.
It's not after man, for I neither received it of man, neither was
I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. So you see the
two ways there. And there's another way, which
is not another, but there's God's true gospel, and then there's
everything else. And man's way is his own works,
his own righteousness, imagined righteousness, and God's way
is Christ. As we said, Cain and Abel, Cain
brought, he worked hard. Although he was deceived even
in that, how's he gonna produce any vegetables or fruit of the
ground unless God gives sunshine and rain? That's what we saw
in our text. As the rain falls down from heaven, if it don't,
there's not gonna be any vegetables. But you can deceive yourself,
can't you? You can tell, you know, we worked hard, we got
this stuff, and here you go, I'm gonna present this to God.
Well, that's not how sinners come to God. They come to God
by the blood of an innocent victim. An innocent substitute. And that's how Abel came. And
the scripture says there in Genesis 4 that God had respect unto Abel
and his offering. He didn't have respect unto Abel.
He had respect unto Abel and his offering. And unto Cain and
his offering, he had not respect. Because it wasn't Christ. It
was by faith that Abel offered the more excellent sacrifice.
But faith just has one object. That's the Son of God. All through
the scripture that faith is not just believing, you know, having
a positive attitude. Faith has one object, it's Christ. All through the Word of God.
So Cain and Abel won the result of his own labor, at least he
could fool himself into thinking it was. Isaac and Ishmael won
being the life produced by promise. Isaac, born of a miracle of God's
power and promise. And the one born by the reasoning
of the flesh. Well, we can work, God said we're
gonna have another son, so the only way that's gonna happen
is if you go in my handmaid, and you know. That's the way
the flesh, an abomination. It's not just stupid, it's evil,
isn't it? It's evil. So our thoughts are not just
different. His are high, and ours are low. It's not just different
on the same plane. His thoughts are higher than
ours, like the heavens are higher than the earth. Somebody compared the wisdom
of God in his thoughts to the difference between our thoughts
and the thoughts of an ant. And I thought that's a good way
to think about it, because the way he described it is the heavens
are higher than the earth. An ant, all it does is go around
Selfishly providing for itself using God's earth and stinging
people when they when they cross him I Got one use for an ant
and that's killing that thing That's that's what ants are for
they're for killing You got to kill something every once in
a while. Don't you? answer good for that But that's that you
see what I'm saying. There's different planes of of
consciousness and God His thoughts are high and ours are base. They're not just contrary, ours
are low. You see, our thoughts of God
and his holiness, who he is, are low. They're low. He said,
you thought I was altogether such and one as yourself. What
kind of way is that to think about God? To imagine that a sinner can
ever measure up to God's standard by anything they do, by everything
they do put together is a low thinking of God, of who God is. And we, of course, we think that
way, don't we? We'll do, we'll, our good will outweigh our bad.
Have you ever thought about how stupid that is? Have you ever
heard anybody say that, by the way? I've heard that a lot of
times in my life. Well, my good outweighs my bad,
you know. You ever think about how stupid that is? If everything
you ever did was all good and you did one bad thing, you'd
have to go to hell. Do we understand that about God?
He'd have to put us in hell if we just did one bad thing. It
don't matter outweigh what. And then you get to thinking
a little deeper about it and we don't have any good at all
anyway. We just call it that. What we call good is bad. But people think that way, don't
they? And that's a low thinking of God. We think highly of ourselves,
but that too is a low thought. Because if you can see yourself
as high, then how low is your thinking? To elevate that which is abominable
to God, that's low thinking. Listen to what he said in Luke
16, 13. No servant can serve two masters. And here we go with the two again.
That's all through the word. For either he will hate the one
and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise
the other. You can't serve God and mammon.
We talked about this, mammon is gain, it's money, but more
than that, it's promoting self, it's the increase of self. So really what he's saying is
you can't serve God and yourself, because when you give yourself
to gain, what are you serving? You're not serving the stuff,
you're serving you. It's not, you know, we don't,
you know, I don't know anybody at least. I've never had the
urge to put like a bunch of money up on some kind of a pedestal
or something and worship money. No, you're worshiping you. If
that's all you're about is just getting money, you're worshiping
you. Because that's what money is. It's what it can do for you
that you love about it. And that's the root of all evil,
the love of money. You can't serve both. and the
Pharisees also who were covetous, their whole religion was based
around what's in it for me. It wasn't just give me your money
and I'll, you know, I'll pray you into heaven, you know, I'll
get you out of purgatory or whatever nonsense they came up with. I
don't know what their specific nonsense was. But we know of
things like that. You know, if you give enough
money, you know, you're in good standing with the Lord, you know,
and things like that. It wasn't just that. Their ideas
of heaven itself were earthly and carnal. I'm gonna have a
mansion on the hilltop, you know. Covetous. They heard all these
things and they derided him. You talking about your ways not
being God's ways when God tells you how it is and you get mad
at him for it and correct God? And he said unto them, you are
they which justify yourselves before men. But God knows your
hearts. He knows ours too, doesn't he?
He knows our hearts. For that which is highly esteemed
among men is abomination to God. It's abomination. So you see
the difference. It's not just one path and another
path. His thoughts are high, holy. And ours are low and abominable
and evil and wretched. The conflict between God's thoughts
and ours concern who's gonna be master. That's what we just
read there. No man can serve both. You're
gonna serve somebody and it can't be two. There can only be one
master. And that naturally concerns what's
good and evil because whoever is master gets to say what's
right and wrong. That was the issue in the garden. Whoever's going to be God gets
to decide what's right and what's wrong. That's what Satan said.
You'll be, as gods, knowing good and evil. Well, you already know
good and evil because God told you. Right? God told them what was good.
Do what I say, that's what's good. Don't do what I say, that's
evil. They already knew that. That ain't what he was saying.
He's saying you'll be able to decide for yourself what's good
and what's not. Whoever's master can do that,
right? But God hath made foolish the
wisdom of this world. Colossians 1.20, and the natural
man can't receive the things of the Spirit of God. Same context. First Corinthians 2.14, because
they are foolishness to him. The truth of God And you may
know this by experience and you may not. I know this by experience. The truth of God is absolute
idiocy to man. It's idiocy. Man's thoughts about how God
saves a sinner are low. Aren't they you can just walk
waltz down and I'll chew in your bubblegum and get saved whenever
you want to Pull your thoughts are not God's thoughts It's gonna
take a creative miracle of God's power to save a sinner You got to be born all over again
and you can't do that You see God's thoughts are not man's
thoughts. I Man says, well, it's all up to you. You just need
to do this and that. What God calls salvation, man
can't do it. You can't birth yourself any
more than you did before. A leopard can't change his spots.
The Ethiopian can't change his skin. God's going to have to
do it for you. God's way of salvation is by
a miracle of his grace and power. Again, in Abraham and Sarah and
Isaac, the promised seed. If there's going to be life,
God has got to do a miracle. That's the picture there. Religion talks about man got
to make that all-important decision, you know. That's what Abraham
and Sarah did. They made a decision. that they
thought would help God accomplish his will. And it was an abomination. God had already told him what
was going to happen and what he was going to do. And he did. And by his power and grace, a
miracle was done. And Isaac was born. That's how
all sinners are born again. By a miracle of God's grace and
power. With man, it's impossible. Sarah laughed, didn't she? God
said, why'd you laugh? And she said, I didn't laugh.
He said, yeah, you did too, didn't you? Yeah, and people still do. They still do. They're still coming up with
a way to get people saved. Man's way is God has done all
he can and has left salvation up to you. God's way is Lazarus
come forth. It's that simple, isn't it? Isn't
it beautiful the way God sets forth his saving power in the
scripture? Lazarus come forth. That's how
sinners are made alive, by the power of God's word, the word
of Christ. Stretch forth thy hand, that
man with the withered hand, He said, rise to that one man, take
up that bed and walk. He said to that one man, the
son of man has the power on earth to forgive sin. Your sins are
forgiven. That's God's way of salvation.
In man's way of salvation, it's up to man's will. It's up to
man's ability. It's up to man's virtue. In God's
way of salvation, it's up to God's will and power and grace. Man's way is, I have decided
to follow Jesus. Have you ever heard that song?
I used to sing that to my everlasting shame. I have decided to follow
Jesus. God's way is, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
It's a decision God makes, not you. So your thoughts of God,
your thoughts of yourself, and your thoughts of how a sinner
is saved, they've got to be abandoned. They've got to be forsaken. They've
got to be, that's what Paul said, I put it all behind me and counted
it, but duh, that I might win Christ and be found in him. You got to change your mind about
all these things. That's what repentance is. You
see how all this fits together? What's repentance? It's your
thoughts are not God's thoughts. That's what it is. And your thoughts
are gonna have to be God's thoughts. How's that gonna happen? You
gotta change your mind. How you gonna do that? A miracle of God's
power and grace. You can't do good, you are accustomed
to do evil, any more than an Ethiopian can change his skin.
With men it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible. But you see that? God's thoughts
are not my thoughts, so what needs to happen? I'm gonna have
to start thinking like God does. That's what Paul talked about
in 1 Corinthians chapter two, wasn't it? We have the mind of
Christ. We discern the things of God
now. The natural man can't receive
them. They don't want to, it's foolishness to them and they
can't anyway because they're spiritually discerned. But we,
God's revealed them unto us by his son, by his grace. You gotta change your mind. Your
thoughts are gonna have to be God's thoughts. That's what repentance
is. And man can't, by his own ingenuity,
by his own wisdom and perception or intellect or ambition, just
change his mind about things like that. Well, how does it
happen then? Well, verse 10 in our text. As
the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth
not thither, but watereth the earth, What he's saying there
is he's not saying that it doesn't return. He's saying it doesn't
return until it's done what I sent it to do. It returneth not thither,
but that it watereth the earth first, and maketh it bring forth and
bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
Think about the parable of the sower. there any seed to sow
at all? Because God sent down from Heaven
His Son, the Word, the Living Word. The Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. And in these last days He's spoken
unto us by His Son. There it is, that's the seed,
the Word of God. And notice, He maketh it bring
forth and bud. So shall my word be, verse 11. Isn't that a beautiful, simple
comparison? It's something that God does.
Can you make it rain? You wanna go do a rain dance
and see how that works out? People are stupid, aren't they? Just stupid. Let's go dance around
until it rains. I think we can make it rain.
That's a picture of religion. You say, oh, well, that's people
that don't know any better. Nobody knows any better. Look
at the religion of this world, and you tell me it's not just
that stupid. I think making a totem pole would be smarter than some
of the nonsense that goes on in churches these days. Let's
make a totem pole and dance around it. It wouldn't be any worse,
would it? No, this is something God does, and it's simple. He makes the rain fall, and he
makes it fall for a reason. There's a purpose that he is
gonna accomplish with that. And we see it all around us.
And we still can't believe it unless he opens our heart. He
said, my word is like that. I sent my word into this world.
I've given you my written word. And I've done it for a reason.
And it's going to accomplish exactly what I gave it in order
to accomplish. It's not up to you. It's up to
God. God's doing something. Do you
want in on that? I won't in on that by His grace,
don't you? It's not gonna return unto me
void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. You know
what God delights in? Life. God is life. He's Lord of the living. It shall not return, it shall
accomplish that which I please and it shall prosper in the thing
whereto I sent it. Paul said, to one we're a savor
of life unto life, and to another we're a savor of death unto death,
but to God we're the sweet-smelling savor of Christ. Every time the
gospel's preached, he said, the Lord causes us to triumph. It's accomplishing what God has
sent it to accomplish. That's a win. I hope it's a win that includes
the salvation of everybody we love. I really do. But whatever
God does with it, whatever he's purposed, it's a win. Every time. In order to cause man to think
like God, he sent his word down here. That's what our text is
talking about. Paul said we have the mind of
Christ in 1 Corinthians 2.16 and understand all things. That
doesn't mean we know everything, but we, I tell you what, a believer
knows everything a sinner needs to know. What else do you need
to know if you know him? The simple truth of Christ and
salvation in him, this is something God has accomplished. He gave
me life, how did he do it? He made it rain on me. He made
the Lord Jesus Christ come where I was and give me life. He sent his word, the incarnate
word, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. He's spoken unto us by his son.
The word was made flesh and dwelt among us. The holy written word
of God described, listen to 2 Peter 1.19, we also have a more sure
word of prophecy, where unto you do well that you take heed.
Simon has just given an account in 2 Peter chapter 1 of how that
him and James and John saw the Lord Jesus Christ's glory shining
from his face. When the veil of his flesh somehow
was dropped in their sight and his face shone brighter than
the midday sun. And God spoke from heaven and
said, this is my son in whom I'm pleased. Hear him, hear him. And then he said this, we also
have something that's more sure, more reliable, more firm, more
important than that, the word of God. And he said, you do well
to take heed unto it as unto a light that shineth in a dark
place. Until the day dawn and the day
star arise in your heart. Just keep hearing it until He
shines it in your heart Well, I love that passage of scripture
right there Take heat to it and just keep on hearing until the
day star arises in your heart Knowing this first, that no prophecy
of the scripture is of any private interpretation. It's not for
us to take it, well, I believe this means that. God says what
he means. It doesn't need to be interpreted. It's not hard to understand.
It's not in a foreign language. The prophecy came not in old
time by the will of man. That's what Paul was saying when
he said, it's not after man. But holy men of God spake as
they were moved by the Holy Ghost. So God, His thoughts are not
our thoughts, and our ways are not His ways, but they're gonna
have to be. We're gonna have to think like Him. How's that
gonna happen? He sent His word. This goes kind
of with our message this morning, doesn't it? Oh, if you just,
if they just knew, if you just knew. And of course I read this to
you often. I probably quote this as much
or more than anything else in the scripture and for obvious
reasons. John 20, 30, many other signs
truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not
written in this book, but these are written. God said, I sent my word down
for a reason. Just like I send the rain, there's
going to be life. There's going to be green. It's
going to spring up. And he sent his word down here
for a reason. These are written that you might
believe. This is not cold doctrine. This is about you. These are written that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing,
you might have life. That's why the rain falls, life.
That's why the word is being preached tonight to you, life. Life. You might have life through
his name, And notice how God's word operates.
It's not just instructions given, leaving the sinner to interpret
or understand by his own wisdom and perception. It's a powerful,
life-giving means whereby God imparts life to dead things. That's important now. It's vital
because without the rain, there can't be any life. Everything
in this world lives on water. And I love, I believe it was
David Pledger a long time ago, I've never forgotten this. He
said, God just made water one time. The water that would come
out of this faucet back here, God made that water a long time
ago. The water company didn't make
it. They just put a price on it. God made water one time and
we're still drinking it. Everything is still drinking
it. Everything needs it. You see
what a beautiful picture this is of God's gospel? It's necessary
and it's something that he does. Water, you don't have to sit
there and go, well, I don't know, what's this all about? It's life,
that's what it's all about. You need it, that's what it's
all about. If you're gonna have something, you're gonna have
to get it from God, that's what it's all about. It's not up to man's interpretation,
it's vital. Man shall not live by bread alone,
by water alone, but by every word which proceeds from the
mouth of God. Vital, necessary, he accomplishes
life. He sends the water because he
loves life, to produce life, and he sends his gospel for the
same reason. It's certain because God does
it. He said it's not coming back till it does it. And he said it shall prosper. It shall. It shall accomplish
what I please. Isn't that beautiful? Aren't
you glad that things are that way? That God's on the throne
and he doeth his will in the armies of heaven and among the
inhabitants of the earth. How in the world could you pray
if it wasn't like that? Isn't it wonderful to pray to
a God like that? Oh, what a privilege. Nothing is up to man. You see
anything in that that's up to man? In our text. Our Lord said, it's given unto
you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Not given
to everybody, but it's given to you. It'll prosper in the
thing whereto he sent it. Paul said in Romans 116, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it's the power of
God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. And in 1 Corinthians 118, the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved, it's the rain. That'd be a faithful way to say
that, wouldn't it? It's the power of God. It's how God gives life. To us, it's the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will
bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. He's gonna destroy,
the wisdom of the wise is that God's done all he can and now
it's up to you, and God's going around saving people in spite
of themselves. Against their will, with their full consent.
He makes foolish the wisdom of this world. He saves people his
way, irregardless of what we think or what people imagine. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe, just like the rain that
falls from heaven. It pleases him to do that in
order for there to be life on this earth. Listen to 2 Thessalonians
2, 13. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel. Now listen, let me read that
part again and then finish it. Where unto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know how you're gonna obtain
the glory of God in Christ Jesus? By our gospel. This is God's way of saving sinners. That's his thoughts on the matter.
And ours are not his. But boy, I like his, don't you?
His grace, I like his. God's way is vital because God's
way is Christ. God's way is powerful and certain
because God's way is Christ. Man's way is popular and very
few in any given generation ever see things God's way? Very few. He said, enter in at the straight
gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth
to destruction and many there be that go in there at. Because
straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
life and few there be that find it. The life gate is narrow because
it's Christ alone. Every other way is anti-Christ.
It's broad because it's everything else. If you miss him, you're
in the other way. In the parable of the sower,
there's several types of bad ground, but there's only one
good ground. Never really thought about it
that way before. There's all kinds of ways for that seed not
to give, not to bring forth life. There's just one way that it
does. The seed is the word of God,
and the word of God is the gospel of Christ. The good ground is
ground that receives the gospel of Christ, that receives the
love of the truth. Listen to some scripture about
how that happens. Acts 16, 13. On the Sabbath, we went out of
the city by Riverside, Paul said, where prayer was wont to be made.
There was a group of ladies that were gathering together, just
praying. There's always a way to worship
God in there. One way or another, you can worship God. We have a lot of advantages.
Even if you don't, you can worship God. These ladies, they didn't
have anybody to teach them anything, but they just got together and
prayed. down by the riverside. And we sat down and spake unto
the women which resorted. The other Paul said, and a certain
woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of all things, of the
city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us. She heard us. Whose heart the Lord opened.
that she attended unto the things which were spoken. And when she
was baptized in her household, she besought us, saying, if you
have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house
and abide there. And she constrained us. Well,
I like that. That's how it happens. The Lord
opens a heart. And when he does, when he did,
she heard it. She heard it. Luke 2444, we read this this
morning. These are the words which I spake
unto you while I was yet with you that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. Then he opened their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. and said unto them,
thus it is written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day. I don't think it's a coincidence
that he opened their understanding that what coincided with that
was him saying, all of this concerns me. When he shows you that, you'll
understand the scriptures. When he shows you that Christ
is the message of God's book, you'll understand. Well, let's
read this the last part of our text in closing listen to the
beautiful language here for you shall go out with joy This is
the Lord's done something now. He's caused the rain to fall
on you You're gonna go out with joy. Remember when it when the
Gentile when the Gentiles heard this they were glad And the Jews
just wanted to argue But somebody was glad if the Lord causes the
rain to fall on you and give life and You'll go out with joy,
you'll be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field
shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn, think about
this, what's the thorn? Why are there thorns? Because
of sin, you remember? Part of the curse was this earth
will bring forth briars and thistles. But instead of the thorn shall
come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the
myrtle tree, and it shall be to the Lord for a name. We're
going to praise him for it. You know why? Because he did
it. He did it. He saved us. He sent the rain. And he did it for a reason. He
did it to save us. And he saved us. His son came
where we were. The briar, of course, symbolizes
the curse of sin. The only way that curse is broken
is by the power of the word of God. That's how the curse is
broken. That's how the thorn doesn't
grow anymore. The myrtle tree grows now. Something
beautiful and useful. Something that God and man can
rejoice in. Life. And that's the word we preach.
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law No more thorns Will be a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwells righteousness. We're gonna
live With the Savior forever. He's redeemed us from the curse
of the law. How'd he do it? He was made a curse for us. I Don't even know how to expound
on that do you he was made a curse. I I like those last two words,
though, for us. For us. For it is written, cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. May God reveal his word. Cause it to fall upon good ground.
May he give life as only he can. Let's pray together again. Thank
you, Lord, for your precious word. How vital. How indeed precious it is, and
may we always count it so. Thank you for the privilege of
coming together, Lord, and hearing your word. Always make us faithful
to your simple and powerful gospel of Christ. the only hope for
a sinner, the only message that glorifies you. Thank you, Lord, for that gospel
and that it pleased you by its preaching to save such as we. Go with us, Lord, as we go into
this world, and may we keep us, Lord, every step that we might
honor you, even in this flesh, Never let us go. Help us, Lord, to love one another
and to serve one another. In Christ's name, we ask all
these things. Amen. Amen. Well, it's been a good
day. I've enjoyed spending the day with you. I
believe the Lord's taught me the same thing I've been learning
all my life. And maybe I see a little bit
better tonight. Well, I thank the Lord for you.
God bless you.