Chapter 55, starting in verse
8. Isaiah 55, starting in verse
8, and I will read through the end of verse 11. For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain
and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without
watering the earth, making it bud and flourish, so that it
yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my
word that goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which
I sent it. Let's pray. Our Lord, we come to you, first
of all, with great thanks. We have always so much to be
grateful for in every circumstance, but especially when we gather
together. It is a blessing to be among brethren, and we ask,
Lord, that you bless our time together this morning, that we
may worship you, that the word preached is yours, and that it
is a blessing to everyone. Lord, we know your promises. We know your ways and your thoughts
are so much greater than ours, and we know that your purpose
will be completed. And that includes right now.
And we thank you for that. We thank you, Christ, for everything
you are and everything you've done for us. And we pray this
in Jesus' name, amen. You can take out your hymnals
again and turn them to number 164, Angels from the Realm of
Glory. And 164, and we'll stand as we sing. Angels from the realms of glory,
wing your flight o'er all the earth. proclaim Messiah's birth. Come and worship, come and worship,
worship Christ the newborn King. Shepherds in the fields abide, God with man is now residing Come and worship, come and worship,
worship Christ, the newborn King. Sages, leave your contemplations,
brighter visions. Seek the great desire of nations,
ye have seen his natal star. Come and worship, come and worship,
worship Christ the newborn King. Saints before the altar bending,
watching long in hope and fear, suddenly the Lord descended. Christ the newborn King. All creation join in praising
God the Father, Spirit, Son. Evermore your voices raising
to the eternal three in Can we be seated? Turn back to Isaiah. We'll be staying there pretty
much the whole time today. Isaiah 55 again. So the title of my message this
morning, the title of the message this morning is unimaginable
and it came to me over the last few weeks. In that word, it fits so much
of what we experience when it comes to our Lord and what we
can do our best to understand while we're here. The way he works he tells us
very very plainly in this scripture that we're reading from today
in verse 8 and 9 It says for my thoughts are not your thoughts
Neither are my ways your ways declares the Lord What exactly
does that mean? Does it simply mean that in the
way that in which he orchestrates the world is simply different
than how we would direct things If it were up to us that when coming to one of the
many forks in life's roads, the Lord would go left and we would
go right? Sure, it's somewhat true that
when making decisions in life regarding family, church, career,
or up to us, we would probably choose the wrong path. We would choose the wrong path
where it left up to us. Were anything left up to us without
the guidance and direction of the Lord, we would most certainly
choose the wrong path. But it's so much more than that,
what he's saying here about his thoughts, not our thoughts, and
his ways, not our ways. The Lord's thoughts and ways
aren't just a left turn compared to our right turn. The Lord's
thoughts and ways aren't just the opposing option in regard
to what we think or want. The Lord's thoughts and ways
are simply out of our reach, far beyond our understanding. Our thoughts are bound to this
world. We can't contemplate, comprehend, or imagine anything
outside of this creation. We can do our best. Anything
we can spiritually is given to us as a gift by the Lord. But
to understand his ways outside of this creation, we simply can't
do it. We can't understand eternity. We can't grasp the concept, the
true concept of heaven. Not until we're there, not while
we're here. Our thoughts are bound to this
world. As much as we believe and trust in the internal promises
of God, we can't truly grasp the idea, again, of eternity,
heaven, or the omnipotence and power and glory of God. The ways of God for us are unimaginable. And it says in verse nine, as
the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher
than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. The
distance, the divide between our ways and the Lord's ways
are compared to the distance between heaven and earth. How
far is heaven from earth? Does that mean that the earth
and heaven are on just different levels of the same creation?
Attainable from one to the other? If you fly high enough from earth,
will you eventually reach heaven? Of course not. So what is this
saying? Heaven is eternal. It is the
place where the Lord dwells. It has no beginning, no end. It is perfection. It was before time. It was before
creation. It exists outside of this creation. So as long as we are here, we
can't reach there. That's the distance between heaven
and earth. That is also true regarding the
Lord's ways. His thoughts, His ways, His will
are accomplished outside of this creation. Even the saving of
His people was done before the creation of the world. And since our thoughts and our
ways are completely tied to this creation, God's ways for us are
unimaginable. We can't even imagine the ways
of the Lord. But God's people are given a
blessing. They've been given understanding. The perfect amount of understanding
that they need. They still don't understand all
of God's ways, we can't. But we've been given sight. We've
had our hearts softened in a way where we can see a truth, the
truth that no one else can see unless you've been given that
sight or had your heart softened. We are given all we need. We
are given all we need to know. The Lord will bring the gospel
of Jesus Christ to every one of his sheep, and they will hear
his voice, and they will be shown their dire need of Christ. They
will be shown that Christ has victoriously carried out the
will of his Father, and that only as he could, he suffered
the wrath that every one of his people deserved. Their debt has
been paid. The gospel of Christ is all we
need to know. We cannot fully understand the
ways in which God carries out day-to-day actions that we're
gonna deal with throughout our life here. We can't understand
the ways of God. But just like the sheep hear
his voice, When a sheep hears the shepherd's voice, can the shepherd explain his
thoughts and ways to the sheep? Can the sheep understand the
ways and thoughts of the shepherd? Is it necessary for the sheep
to understand the ways and thoughts of the shepherd? No, the sheep
hear his voice and follow him. They are assured by his voice
that he is everything they need. They don't fully understand his
ways. They're just sheep. But they know that without him,
they have nothing. Without him, they have no hope. With him, they have everything
they could ever need. They will be taken care of. They
know they will be loved. They know they will be safe. They know they can't be harmed. They are safe and can rest knowing
he is there. Do they understand the ways?
Nope. And they don't care. Those sheep
will experience life just like every other sheep would. There
will be storms that will be terrifying. Middle of the night, pitch black,
horrible storms. And they will hear his voice
and they can rest during those storms knowing he is there and
they are safe. There will be wolves, other predators, And if they're out there alone,
they should be terrified. But if he is with them and they
hear his voice, they can rest, knowing he is there. Sheep are prone to do what? Wander. So not only the things that they
deal with in their external life as far as storms or dangers or
They also have to worry about themselves, just like us, prone
to wander. We love to sin. And those sheep,
us, will wander. And we'll find ourselves in places
we never thought we'd find ourselves. And then we will look around
and he will be there. He goes to find the lost sheep
every time, and he never fails, and he brings them home. He doesn't
even ask the sheep to walk home. He picks them up and carries
them. So the sheep hear his voice.
They know he's there in every situation, whether it's part of this world that's scary
or hard or difficult, or something that we've done that we're struggling
with, We know as God's people, our shepherd is there. We hear
his voice and we can rest knowing in every circumstance, in every
situation, he is there and we are safe. But until every sheep hears his
voice, this world will go on. That's what's happening right
now as we carry out the rest of time. The Lord is just taking
his sheep home one by one. We're just waiting for everyone
to be gathered. And this world will go on until
that happens. And it will go on perfectly according to God's
will through Christ. According to his unimaginable
thoughts and ways. And this fully applies to our
daily lives in both pleasant and unpleasant circumstances. I mean, the longer you live,
the more obvious it becomes that you have no idea what God has
planned for your life. Things will come about that you
never saw coming. You'll find yourself in positions
you never thought you'd see. both from external sources and
from yourself. You'll do things you never thought
you'd do. And it's all part of God's perfect
providence. We love to think we have control
over our plans, our lives, even ourselves. I think 2024 has shown
us that that is definitely not the case. It's been quite a while now, but with the
Lord taking Joe home, we did not see that coming. And it was tragic, and it's still
hard, very hard. The devastation for our church,
for Joe's family, tragic to us. But nothing about that was tragic
to the Lord. It was His perfect will. It was perfectly according to
His thoughts and His ways, which are unimaginable to us. Then the flood happens in Rock
Valley. the devastation across an entire community. Homes, lives
destroyed, so much loss and heartache. And these are just a few examples,
just a couple, a snapshot of a tiny portion of Iowa when you
compare that to the entire world of what's happening. It's all according to God's will. And I guarantee that each one
of us here today is dealing with something I mean, I bet when I said that,
every one of you, something popped up in your head. Everyone is
dealing with something. Sometimes much harder than others. Some of you are dealing with
things you never thought you'd experience. And if you aren't right now,
you probably will someday. You are or will encounter times
in your life that you thought would be unimaginable. But such are the thoughts and
the ways of our Lord who loves us. We as God's people have been
shown that to give us unimaginable comfort during those times. Imagine trying to go through
those times without that comfort. And sometimes it's not just events
or external aspects of your life. Sometimes it's us that's unimaginable. Don't ever underestimate what
you are capable of. We are all, every one of us,
capable of the absolute worst. Every one of us. Not only capable, if the Lord
left us to ourselves, we would run and dive headfirst into depravity,
and we would love it. depths of depravity you never
thought you were capable of. As cursed and corrupt, as sinful
as can be, that is what we are without the Lord. So there will be hard times,
some that we never thought would be possible, we will fail in
ways that we never thought could happen, but those difficulties,
those failures, those unimaginable experiences are only part of
this creation. They are only part of this cursed
world. Tears, failures, sin, heartache,
they only exist here in this temporary world which means they
too are temporary. And what glorious blessing for
God's people to know that that is the truth. When we go through hard times,
I sometimes wonder how someone who doesn't believe gets through
hard times. I don't know how. I mean, the
loss of a loved one, or the flood, or whatever any of us might be
dealing with at any moment, without knowing that it's all happening
according to the ways and the will of the Lord. To be without
that comfort. I remember when Joe passed. And
there was one realization I've had. I don't know if I really
even realized it so much at the time, but I certainly see it
now. It's obviously a very hard time for all of us. And I'm not
gonna try to describe the sadness and the heartache that we all
experienced, especially for Bonnie and the kids. But I can say,
and this is only by the amazing grace of God, that through all
of it, There was a foundation supporting that difficult time.
All of the sadness and the shock and the hurt and the wonder and
despair that sat on a firm foundation of knowing that this was God's
will. This is God's way. And his way
is good. It might not make any sense to
us, and it won't. His ways are so far from our
ways. His thoughts are so far from
our thoughts. But his are so much better. In every hard time for a non-believer,
there would be this undeniable urge to wonder why, right? For someone that doesn't know,
hasn't been shown this truth, why has this happened? Whatever
it may be. Why me? Why now? To God's people, there is never
a why. While we may not understand the
way he goes about things, we do understand the why. It is
God's will according to his purpose. Back up to verse 11. So is my word that
goes out from my mouth. It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which
I sent it. And what is that purpose? Romans 828. I feel like every
time I preach I end up talking about Romans 828. As we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him. Who have been called according
to his purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined
to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brothers, and those He predestined, He
also called. Those He called, He also justified,
and those He justified, He also glorified. He is going to glorify
His people. That is His purpose. That is
why Christ became a man and suffered at the hands of His Father. to justify and glorify the likes of us. So there's no why for us in any
situation. We know why. We might not understand
how it's all connected. because we don't understand his
ways, but we don't have to, just like the sheep doesn't have to
understand the ways of his shepherd. We hear his voice and we follow
him. So while we might not know the
ways, we never need to ask why. Every single event, every aspect
of this life is perfectly orchestrated by God for the good of his people. What's good for his people? Good
things in this world? No. Good times in this world?
No. The only true good for his people
is for them to go home to him. To work through the unimaginable
thoughts and ways of the world until every sheep hears the beautiful
voice of the shepherd. Until every one of God's peoples
hears the beautiful voice of Jesus Christ. Regardless of whatever's happening
in this world, we have so much to be thankful for. We've been
given sight. Our cold, dead hearts have been
given life. We have been shown that his ways
are not our ways and we can take comfort and rest in that in the
hardest of times. While we won't always understand
his ways, we know why. To save his people from their
sins and the judgment they deserve. And most importantly, and what
we really need to know is not his ways or his why, but who. Through whom is God's perfect
providence or plan carried out? By whom are God's people justified? By whom was our debt paid? Who
is righteous enough to pay for our sins, defeat death, and cover
us with his own perfect righteousness? While God's ways and thoughts
are unimaginable to us, we have a way to God. We can approach
him. A way for that chasm between
heaven and earth to be crossed safely. And that way is Christ
our Savior. Christ our King. Jesus Christ is the only way.
He's the only truth. He is the light of the world. He is the only son of God. He
is the lion of the tribe of Judah, the lamb slain that now sits
on the throne as king over all things. We don't need to know his ways.
We just need to know who to turn to. And there is only one. the one thing we can be sure
of. So, you know, as His ways and thoughts are as unimaginable
to us, so is the depth of His grace and mercy and the riches of Christ also
unimaginable to us right now. But of one thing we can be sure, Christ reigns now. And Christ
reigns forever. And only because of what he has
done, his people must and will be free from their burdens. He paid for that, and he doesn't
fail. Freed from their sins. Freed
from the debt they could never pay. We are freed from our chains
of death. And all that is happening right
now, everything, is working right now to bring every single one
of his people home. So while we might not understand
as we go through our days, and there will be days when I promise
you, you will not understand, the ways and thoughts of our
Lord, but we can hear his voice and just like the sheep we can
rest in the comfort knowing that he will keep us safe and we will
go home with him to be with him forever. Our father we thank you for our
time this morning. We thank you that you show us
through good times and bad through pleasant and unpleasant moments,
that we are yours and we are under your care and there is
no safer place to be. Remind us of that, Lord, every
day. We so easily move on, get distracted, We ask, Lord, that you'll help
us to remember, keep putting it in our minds, the fact that
we can rest in the fact that we hear your voice, and no matter
what we experience day to day, we are yours. We are taken care
of. We are safe. We are loved. We thank you, Jesus, and we pray
this in your name, amen. Take out your hymnals once again
and we'll turn them this time to number 149. Joy to the world.
And we'll stand as we sing. 149.