and aren't acquainted with all my ways. Now we might think we know ourselves better than anybody, and I'd say in an earthly sense it's probably true. I'd say nobody knows you like you know you, but the Lord knows us better than even we know ourselves.

He said you've searched me and known me, and the Lord sees what's on the heart. So he's got the ultimate authority to tell us about our ways and our thoughts. So we're going to start by considering our thoughts and our ways and then we'll get to the thoughts and the ways of the Lord. I want to be brief in talking about our thoughts because the point of this passage is the ways and thoughts of Christ. Now our thoughts mean what we think, our actual thoughts that are going through our head right now, but that word also means purpose. What is our purpose? What is God's purpose? What is the motivation for what we do? What is the why behind the things that we do?

So let's turn to Genesis chapter six. Genesis chapter six. Genesis six, verse five. This is the first time that man's thoughts are mentioned in scripture. Genesis 6 verse 5, and God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Every imagination. You've searched me and you've known me, and he knows every imagination of the thoughts of our heart. And he says they're evil continually. They don't get better with time, they don't improve, doesn't matter if we're coming to church, reading the Bible, whatever. They're evil continually, is what he says. Turn to Psalm 94. Psalm 94. Verse 11.

The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanity. Now, vanity means worthless. Our thoughts are worthless in the sight of God. We care so much about what men think. in this world, what they think about us, what they think about our works, what we do, their opinions. What does God say about our thoughts? They're worthless, worthless in his sight.

Strong language, evil continually and worthless, but it's the right language. It's the language he used. Now let's consider our ways. Let's turn to Romans 3. Our ways. He said, my ways are not your ways. Now, our ways is what we do. It's our works. But it's also, that word means direction, direction or path, where we are headed, where we are going, where are our works leading us to.

Romans 3, verse 13, their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they've used deceit. The poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. Now our works are destructive and miserable. We're a destructive people. There's destruction and misery all throughout this earth. But that's also where our way will lead us to.

Destruction and misery there is nothing awaiting somebody that brings their ways and their thoughts before God except destruction and misery Now I'll read this to you, this is Ezekiel 36 verse 17, and this is the Lord speaking I Son of man, when the house of Israel dwelt in their own land, they defiled it by their own way and by their doings. Their way was before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman. They defiled it by their own way.

What man by nature wants more than anything is to go their own way. It doesn't matter how destructive it is. It doesn't matter how debauched or evil it is. What the pride of man says is, I want to go my own way. I want my own path. I want my own will to be done. And I want to bring that before God. That's the great threat, to go our own way. That's our ways and our thoughts. Evil continually, destructive, miserable, worthless. Thankfully, the Lord said, my ways are not your ways.

Let's turn back to our text. Isaiah 55. I want to read verse 7. Isaiah 55, verse 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord. And I'll have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. That word forsake means to loosen. To loosen our grasp and our grip on our way and our thoughts. To loosen our love of our way and our thoughts. To loosen any idea that these are acceptable before God. So in this thing of our ways and our thoughts, the simplest way I can put it is let them go.

They are worthless to us. They do nothing good for us. And somebody says, what does that mean? Well, it doesn't mean to stop sinning. We can't do that. You're not gonna be able to stop the evil ways and the evil thoughts, the things going through your head. But look at verse six. This is what it means to forsake your ways.

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Look to Christ. Look to His ways and His thoughts. And when you do that, you're forsaking your own ways and your own thoughts. So it's not that we just let these things go, we let our ways and our thoughts go, but we have nowhere to go to. We're going somewhere. We're looking to him, to his ways and his thoughts.

And you will do that when the Lord shows you his ways and his thoughts. You will go to him. It won't be an option for you to do so. If he reveals himself to you, you will look to him and you will let these things go. You will forsake your ways and your thoughts.

Verse eight says, for as, sorry, verse eight, for my thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways saith the Lord that means they are completely different Not just we don't see eye to eye with God all the time They just don't line up, but one's not greater than the other they are completely different complete opposites opposites in the in the strongest sense and in what way are they different verse 9 says for as the heavens are higher than the earth and So are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts and your thoughts. The word he uses to describe the difference between his ways and his thoughts and ours is higher. Our Lord is high. He is so very, very high. He is high in every way that one could be high. He's so high in place. Look over two chapters, chapter 57, verse 15. He's so high in place.

For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones, the high and lofty one. And that distance between him and us, between heaven and earth, that's what he uses to describe the difference between his ways and his thoughts and our ways and our thoughts. It is an infinitely higher way.

It is an infinitely higher thought. So let's consider God's thoughts. Turn to Psalm 40. God's thoughts. And you're gonna notice a stark difference. Not a slight difference, but a stark difference. Psalm 40, verse five. Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to usward.

They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak of them, there more than can be numbered. Thoughts which are to usward. What a blessing to think of the Lord actually thinking on us. You know, we, We think on him so much less than we should, and yet he thinks on us. It says, there more than can be numbered. He's always been thinking about us.

What did David said? You've searched me and you've known me. You've known me since before I even was. That's election. The Lord thinking on his people before we even were, choosing his people before we ever came into this world, before creation ever was. You've searched me and you've known me.

Turn to Jeremiah 29. Jeremiah 29, verse 11. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Now his thoughts and his purpose, they're always expected. Nothing surprises him because he's ordained. We have a lot of things that come into our lives and they take us by, they surprise us. They knock us down, then surprise God. When that happens, we're just catching up to what the Lord has always known is going to happen. Everything is expected. And you notice the stark difference. Thoughts of peace and not of evil. Evil continually is our way. Peace is His way. When we think evil, He thinks peace. Now let's turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. This is a passage on the Lord's purpose. My thoughts are higher than your thoughts. My purpose is higher than your purpose. Romans 8 verse 28.

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. He says all things work together for good. His purpose is for the good of his people and for the glory of God. Now that is hard to see at times in our lives. And we have to remember with the Lord's purpose that he is the one who it's purposeful for. It's purposeful in his sight. He knows what the end, he knows what the result of all this is going to be.

I don't. So there's things happening all the time to the Lord's people, to people that we love. And I don't see why it's good, but he sees why it's good. And when things are happening that just, we don't see why it's good, and we don't see why God glory is in it, it is good, and he's glorying in it, and he sees why that is. It is his purpose. So when it doesn't make sense to us, it does make sense to him.

I cannot imagine not knowing that. I mean, can you imagine just if we thought everything was just up to chance? What a scary thing. What an uncertain thing. It's not up to chance. It's all purposeful. If it is happening, it is purposeful. He's purposeful in it.

Now let's consider God's ways. That's God's thoughts. What about his ways? Psalm 18, Psalm 18. I've got one scripture for God's ways and it sums it up pretty good. Psalm 18, verse 30. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

Everything that God has ever done has been perfect. God was perfect before the creation of this earth. Whatever was happening before the creation of this earth, he was perfect in it. He was perfect in creation of this earth, perfect in creation of man. He was perfect in being born into this world.

What a blessing that God came to this earth, actually was made a man, just as much as we're a man, made a actual man and came to this earth. Perfect in his time on this earth. It's amazing how, not just the things he did, but how kind and gracious he was to man on this earth. I mean, he's God himself on this earth, and yet he was so kind to man.

I love to read the scripture and see, read of all these great things, and I love to think of the things that aren't recorded in scripture, and probably all the amazing things he did that we don't even know about. He was perfect in death. The only death to ever accomplish anything, a perfect death, a meaningful death, a purposeful death. He was perfect in resurrection, rising again to be with his father, justifying his people. And as he sits today on the throne, his work remains perfect, always, all the time. Evil continually, perfect.

My ways are not your ways. Now, these two verses, verses eight and nine, when I think about, well, if I was gonna summarize them, how would I summarize them? I think the best way to summarize it is that the Lord is other. He is other. Our pastor's been saying that the last few years, and that's been such a blessing to me, that he's just other, that he's not like me, and he's not like any other man. He's in his own category. God is other. And there's so many great examples of this great otherness. And I just wanna look in Isaiah 55 and show you a few of them. Look at verse one.

Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. That doesn't happen on this earth. Come and buy something without money. You can get a gift, but you can't buy something. But you know, our sins were paid for. Somebody paid the price. The Lord paid the price. And because of that, it's free to us. It's free grace for us. That's other.

That's only something God can do. Look at verse seven. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. Pardon the same thing over and over again. That's not like us. I'll forgive you once for doing something. I might forgive you twice for doing the same thing, but I'm not just gonna forgive somebody doing the same bad thing over and over and over again.

God abundantly pardons. There's no limit to his pardoning, and it'll be the same thing. We'll do the same sin again and again for our whole life, and he will pardon it again and again because it's been paid for. Verse 10, 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 send it. No, that's power that is just higher than us. It's bigger than us. There's no greater example of that passage than the preaching, preaching of the gospel. We can preach, but we can't make men hear. We can preach the word, but God has to give understanding. He has to bless it to his people. And he said, what I send my word to do, it's gonna accomplish. It will not return unto me void. That is higher than us. That is other. That's God though, that's who he is, that's his way and that's his thoughts.

And then you have the ultimate example, the great example of this great otherness, of this great difference, which is the cross. And you think about man's ways and thoughts of the cross. What was man's purpose in the cross? What was their work of the cross?

Evil continually. They said, we will not have this man to rule over us. God had never sinned. He had never done anything wrong. And Pilate says that, find no fault with this man. And yet they said, we're not gonna have him rule over us. Destruction, destruction and misery are in our ways. What destruction was shown at the cross? Man completely out of control, murdering God himself.

And then you think about what God's ways and thoughts were at the cross. And you see the higher way and the higher thought. He had thoughts and ways of mercy at the cross. He had ways and thoughts of love at the cross. There has never been love shown like was shown at the cross. Not before the cross and not after the cross. You think of the love that the Son showed at the cross. to willingly go to the cross.

He was made God in heaven, came down to this earth, and was made man, and willingly went. Went because it was his father's will for him to go, and his father's command to go, knowing that he would be forsaken, and that he would fill the full wrath of sin, and he willingly went. How about the father's love to send his own son to die for his people? That is love like we do not know on this earth, but that's the love that God showed.

And you think about the results of the cross. What did man think when they looked at the cross? What did those men that day think when they looked and saw him hanging on a tree dead? They thought he's defeated. We said he's not gonna rule over us, and he's defeated. It's Christ defeated. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 57, but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ victorious. That was God's way to obtain victory for his people. Christ victorious.

I think of what Joseph said to his brothers after they'd sold him into slavery. And then he becomes king and he reveals himself to his brothers. All those years later, he said, you thought it evil against me. Man meant the cross for evil, but God meant it unto good. And you saw at the cross what happens when the evil of man met the goodness of the Lord. The goodness prevailed. The goodness won. The goodness was done because that was God's purpose. God's purpose prevails, not the evilness of man, but God's purpose.

Now, in light of that ultimate example of him being higher, my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts, I wanna turn back to Psalm 18, and I wanna read it one more time. Psalm 18. Verse 30. Psalm 18, verse 30. As for God, his way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in him. For who is God save the Lord, or who is a rock save our God? It is God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect. And that's what the cross did. The cross made our way perfect. It gave us the ways and the thoughts of the Lord. And that's what we're looking to. We are looking to the cross.

You know, this great difference, this great otherness, There's no hope if there's just a difference. If there's a difference and we don't have a hope, then there's just a difference. We're not going to come in our ways and our thoughts and be found. and be found with any acceptance, with any favor with God. Scripture says, no man cometh to the Father but by me.

But because of the cross, and because he had a purpose in the cross, we can have the ways and the thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is other. That is the higher way, and that is the higher purpose. And looking to that, you will see that that is all in our salvation, is His ways and His thoughts. All right.