Turn with me back to Isaiah 55.
Isaiah 55. I have something tonight that
I pray will be a real help to us. There are so many things
that we know and have been taught from this word But we are in
constant need of being reminded of them. Constant need. There are so many things that
we know and we're sure of. Things that we are, as the scripture
says, persuaded of and embrace. But for me, I'll speak on my
own behalf here. Whenever I read these things
in the word again, I have many light bulb moments. I read things
that I know, but then the Lord causes me to remember it, causes
me to see it again. And it's like a light bulb moment. And I'm constantly reminded I'm
so thankful that the Lord has written this in this word that
he would remind me again, that he would remind us again. And
that's what I want to do tonight. I have something that I want
us to be reminded of again. So look with me here at Isaiah
55 at verse 8. The Lord, our God said. For my
thoughts. Are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. That's a light bulb moment. God's thoughts are different
from our thoughts. He said they are. He said, my
thoughts are not. That's not like that doesn't
mean every now and then they don't line up. They're different. They're different. To the point of being the exact
opposite of our thoughts. That's how different they are.
They're the exact opposite of our thoughts. The flesh of mankind
has not changed. God has not changed and man has
not changed. From the beginning, the way that
man was in fallen flesh, that's the way man still is right now. The thoughts of man's flesh in
the beginning, that's the way the thoughts of man's flesh is
right now. It hadn't changed. Nothing has
changed. What were man's thoughts in the
beginning? What did God say the thoughts
of man were in Genesis 6 verse 5? He said they were only evil
continually. If we get honest, can we not
say, yep, that's the way it still is. Only evil continually. What man's thoughts were then,
That's what man's thoughts are now. That ought to tell us that
God's thoughts are nothing like our thoughts. Our thoughts are
evil, only evil continually. His thoughts are good, only good
continually. And I'll tell you, if we get
a hold of that, that'll be a blessing to our heart. Only good continually. He said, I know my thoughts toward
you. What are they? What are they
toward his people? Only good continually. Our thoughts
are unstable. Our thoughts are so unstable.
His thoughts are fixed forever. They don't waver. Our thoughts
accomplish nothing. You know, we say, I'll tell you
what I think I'm gonna do. Our Lord said through James,
I believe it is, you better be careful what you say, if the
Lord will. Think I'll go and do this and
do that, if the Lord will. Our thoughts accomplish nothing.
His thoughts accomplish His perfect and purposed end. If He thinks
it, it's going to be done. Our thoughts are down here below
and His thoughts are way up above. Verse eight says, 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 in 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. In verse 10 right
there, he said, as the rain comes down, You know, God's judgment on this
earth in the days of Noah, it came down in the form of rain. He said, verse 10, the snow from
heaven. In order to have snow, you have
to have bitter cold. You have to have bitter cold.
Now, I know everybody's not like me. I like warm sun. And I understand
that some people prefer the cold, but I don't. I do not. I'm glad we live right here.
This is a nice little four seasons kind of place, but I really just
like spring, summer, spring, summer. And when winter comes,
when that cold season comes, everything becomes gray, everything
becomes gloomy, everything becomes dead. Death falls on the land. The grass dies. The flowers die. The trees look like they're dead
anyway. All of the flourishing of life
is stripped away. But through that, snow accumulates. It's because of that, that snow
accumulates. And it doesn't evaporate back
up to the skies. It just sits there. Verse 10
says, for as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven
and returneth not thither, that moisture doesn't evaporate
back up. It just stays there and sits
there. Why? Because spring is coming. The sun is about to shine again
and the grass and the flowers and the trees are going to grow
and they're going to bud and they need that life-giving water
to do that. We just were at the conference
in California a few weeks ago in rescue and it was 107 degrees
that weekend and it was hot. It was very hot, 107 degrees.
But if you looked way off into the distance at the Sierra Mountains,
They were all white on top. They're all covered with snow
in July. That was amazing to see. They
were all covered with snow in July. You know what was happening
up there? That snow was very slowly melting
and rivers of water were flowing down. Just rivers of water were
flowing down to the plains below in July. Rather than that water just falling
from the sky and running away or evaporating back up, that
snow just sat there and slowly nourished, slowly nourished. And I looked at that and I thought,
oh, the wisdom of the Lord. The wisdom of our Lord in all
of his design. Verse 10 says, 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. That's what
Christ did for us. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
did for us. The water of life came down. The bread of heaven came down
to give life. Seed to the sower, bread to the
eater. How? How did he do that? How did he do that? Well, let's
think about it. All right. Let's just think about
this. Last Sunday morning, we looked at the Lord Jesus Christ
being the fullness of God. the fullness of God in all of
His eternal, never beginning glory. We just got lost in eternity
from the beginning. God, in all of His sovereignty,
all of His power, all of His authority, And in all of that,
He purposed to create a people who would fall into sin. And He purposed to come into
this world to redeem a chosen number of those people from that
sin. And when He came, this glorious
God of eternity, When he came, he came through the shame of
an unmarried woman. All right, just think about that. Is that how you would have come?
If you were that God who create, what is man? What is this little
tiny ball in the middle of this great host of the heavens? If
you were that God, is that how you would have come into this
world? No. The eternal almighty, all wisdom,
all knowledge, all authority. He spent 33 and a half years
on this earth and for the first 30 years, He didn't do anything. He didn't
hardly say anything. He just quietly worked as a hired
hand in a man's carpenter shop. Would you have done it that way? No. Honestly, would you have
done it that way? For three and a half years, he
entered the ministry of preaching to people. That is just amazing
to me. He walked and walked and traveled
and preached to people. The authority on everything. The one who thinks it and it's
done. If he says, follow me, people
follow him. If he says, believe, Men and
women believe. That's the one who went around
preaching to men and women. Some believed on him. Some didn't. And he knew who was who. He could look right into their
hearts. He could see right into their hearts. He preached to
people who he knew would not believe on him. Now, if I preach
to people who I believe in my heart are unbelievers, I'm doing it in hope that God
has sheep there and he's going to call some of them to believe.
But He did it knowing they would not believe on Him. He did it
knowing they were only following Him to get their bellies filled. Would we have done it that way? No. The One whom nothing can contain,
nothing can contain Him. Nothing can bind Him, hold Him. allowed a man who was supposed
to be his friend to betray him and to sell him
into the hands of sinful, wicked men who lied on him, spit on
him and beat him. This is God. Would you have done
it that way? Isn't that amazing? If you were absolute spotless
holiness and you only possessed perfect righteousness, would
you willingly take the vile depravity of sin and press it into yourself? Would you willingly stand before
the judgment in utter guilt and shame and blame if you were that Would you have allowed yourself
to have been hung on a cross and ridiculed and reviled and
mocked if you were eternal life? I want to emphasize the word
were. If you were eternal life, would you have bowed your head
and given up your ghost and died? No. Why did Christ do all of that?
Why did Christ enter this dark, cold, dead world? Why did he do all that? It's
because that's what brought the resurrection of life to his people. That was the only way that the
rivers of life could flow to his people. In order to be the substitute
for us and to redeem us, he had to be us. In order to be the
substitute for us, he had to be us. He had to come into this
world as us. Why would he come into this world
that way? Because that's how you and me
come into this world. In sin, we're conceived in sin.
We're brought forth in sin. In order to be our substitute
and redeem us and deliver us, he had to live as us. For 30
years, he lived life on this earth. In order to redeem us and stand
for us, he had to die as us. It was through that darkness
that our light came. It was through his rejection
that our acceptance came. It was through his separation
that our union came. It was through his death that
our life came. This is what he said. He said,
accept a corn of wheat, fall into the ground and die. There's
no life. It abides alone. But if it dies,
it will bring forth much fruit. If it dies, it'll bring forth
much rude. And here's the thing about it.
Never could we have known this if he hadn't revealed it to us,
never by our redemption and our life. We can see and we can realize
that His ways are not our ways. Let me just ask that question
up to this point in the message. Can we see that His ways are
not our ways? Just in looking at redemption,
just in looking at salvation, can we see that His ways are
not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts? They're
so much higher than we could possibly fathom. so much wiser than we could possibly
know. There's more purpose in what
he's doing than we could possibly understand everything he's doing.
That's how it was in our salvation. That's how it is in everything
that pertains to our life. And that's the point I want to
make. That's how it was in our salvation. And that's how it
is in everything that pertains to our life. When we find ourselves
in a situation where we do not understand what our Lord is doing.
Let's remember this. His ways are not our ways. His ways are not our ways. They
are higher than we could ever understand. They are purposed
for a greater outcome than we could ever possibly fathom. Normally, the path that we go
down is not the path we would have chosen. Normally, the path we go down
is not the path we would have chosen. I made a statement the
other day to somebody, and I'm not going to repeat what it was
because it doesn't matter. But after I said it out loud,
the thought went through my mind. I'm in for much trouble in this
life. Trouble is ahead. And it's OK. If the Lord sends it, it's OK.
We all are. In the world, we're going to
have much tribulation. I'm no different from anybody. But usually, we're going to find,
and it starts young, when we're kids, you want to grow up to
be a fireman, a policeman, an astronaut, a sports star, or
a rock star. And then one by one, those things
are going to get taken away. So you make up your mind, you're
going to go to college, you're going to start into the workforce,
you're going to do whatever it is you're going to do, and you're
going to be real successful. I used to say when I was growing up,
I want to retire by 40. I said it just for 20 years. I said it until I turned 40.
I want to retire by 40. And then that gets taken away
from you. OK, well, that's fine. I'll just
retire at 65 with a good, nice nest egg built up. Or whatever
it may be. Usually the path we go down is
not the path we would have chosen. We will find that to be so. Normally
things go in a way that we would not want them to go. They're
done in a way that we would not do it. But if we could just remember
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to His purpose, which is again
another light bulb moment. We may have to endure some light
affliction. but it's working an eternal weight
of glory for us. If we could just remember that.
It's all together. Nothing is random. Nothing is
oddly happening. There are no accidents. Everything
is by design, perfectly, piece by piece, being laid in order,
all working together for this eternal weight of glory that
God has purpose for all of his people. And even though it may seem that
the darkness of night hangs over us in this life, if we belong
to Christ and he's given us faith to look to him and faith to trust
him, and that's what we need is we need faith to trust this
man. If he has given us that faith,
the promise of his word, the promise from him is joy is coming
in the morning. It's coming in the morning. Last Sunday night, I mentioned
a man named William Cooper, and I told you that he spent his
entire life in anxiety and fear and depression over circumstances,
and he was just a man who was troubled. He was just a very
troubled man. And I told some of you this after the service,
and I'll tell everybody now, but this just touches me, okay?
The Lord kept giving him, obviously, moments of strength because he
was a poet and a songwriter. And based on the things he wrote,
you could clearly see the Lord strengthened him again. And in
one of those moments where the Lord helped the man and picked
the man up, the Lord allowed him to write this, okay? God
moves in a mysterious way. His wonders to perform. He plants
His footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. That's
good, isn't it? Deep in unfathomable minds of
never-failing skill, He treasures up His bright designs and works
His sovereign will. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage
take. The clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on your head. I've always thought this was
a strong in faith man saying this. This is a guy who's barely
hanging on. but the Lord has given him his
spirit. And this is the result of the
spirit of God in a sinner. He went on to say, judge not
the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind
every frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. His purposes
will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter
taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure
to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and
he will make it plain. That's so good, isn't it? That
is so good. I found an article written by
Brother Henry Mahan, and I put it in our bulletin for this Sunday.
But I'm going to read it to you now, and then you can read it
again Sunday. But this is exactly what we're
talking about. It's called judge not life by outward circumstances. He said God's ways and God's
word are best learned by experience and they are, aren't they? God's ways and God's word are
best learned by experience and in time of trouble. When our
Lord is pleased to lay his hand heavily upon us, we do not soon
forget the lessons learned. When the Lord singles out a believer
or a church for special affliction and adversity, it is not for
punishment nor lack of love for them. It is for eternal blessings
and because he does love them. Whom the Lord loveth, he chastens,
corrects and teaches. When Job sat before his friends,
who was afflicted? I love this part. You think about
this, okay? When Job sat before his friends,
who was afflicted? The one God loved. When Paul
stood before King Agrippa, who wore the chains? The one God
loved. Humanly speaking, which path
of life would you prefer to live on earth, that of Esau or of
Jacob? Esau had the life of prosperity
and ease. Jacob was full of trouble and
conflict, but God loved Jacob. Thank God he has not left us
alone. Thank God he has loved us in
Christ and is pleased to teach us his ways by dealing with us
in such a way that we are weaned from the world and find our life,
comfort and hope only in him. And that's what every purpose
of his is doing. A person who measures his blessings
and relationship with God by his prosperity, health, happiness,
and worldly comforts makes a fatal mistake. If you be without chastisement,
whereof all believers are partakers, then are you bastards and not
sons. Paul said, most gladly, therefore, will I glory in my
infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. He who
sends the trial for his glory and my good will supply the grace
sufficient. Those who know the Redeemer also
know that when we are weak, we are strong. When we are poor,
we are rich. When we are empty, we are full. And when we die, That's so good,
isn't it? That is so good. Aren't you so
glad that his thoughts are not our thoughts? And his ways are not our ways,
and everything that he does is higher than we could possibly
fathom or understand. Aren't you so glad? May God give us faith to trust
him. May God give us faith to trust Him and trust His Word.
Verse 11, right here, I'll close. It says, He said, 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. May the Lord comfort
us with His Word. Let's all stand together.