I selected this text to emphasize
this thought, the Lord most high, the Lord most high. It is very
healthy for the new creation to see our God immeasurably superior to ourselves. He's not this bigger than the
best person, you know, and wiser than the wisest person,
you know. He's in a class all by himself. He's the Lord most high. He's
most high in thought. And he says right here in plain
language to you and I this morning, I don't think like you do. We
really ought to be glad of that. I believe we fail to grasp that
most of the time. He said, my thoughts are not
your thoughts. Great reformer Martin Luther
said to a man, Erasmus, he said, your thoughts of God are too
small. I think Luther could say that
to most of us today. Your thoughts of God are too
small. William McDonnell wrote, a proper
appreciation for God's own testimony in his word about himself would
save us from entertaining small thoughts of God. It would save
us from his rebuke in Psalm 50, 21, thou thoughtest that I was
altogether such in one as thyself. The Lord says you are so wrong
to think I'm like you. My thoughts are higher than your
thoughts and my ways higher than your ways. Notice verse nine
does not specify a distance of how much higher. From the earth
to the moon or from the earth to the stars and the earth to
the sun. No, but it's an example given. with no limits. As far as the heavens, on and
on and on without end, are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways. There's no definite measure given
of God's superiority to man, either in thought or in his ways. He's the Lord Most High in thought. He's the most high in his ways. He's the most high in his purpose. He's the most high in his providence. And he's the most high in success,
100% actually. He never fails. He never settles for less than
he purposed. And he never makes any adjustments.
That is so different, so different from most of what we hear preached
today concerning who God is. Instead of struggling to do so
much, he can't get done. That's the, that's the popular
projection. He'd like to accomplish so much
more. No, no. The noted theologian,
Charles Hodge, he said it right. He said, from eternity, the whole
scheme of redemption with all its details and in all its results
lay mature in the divine mind. I love that statement, lay mature
in the divine mind. in eternity past, before he ever
hung the stars, let alone created the earth. The whole scheme of
redemption with all its details and it's all its results lay
matured in the divine mind. It laid not in the divine mind
in a state of infancy that may or may not develop. but it lay matured as good as
done in his mind and purpose. Hodge
went on to say, hence everything is certain. There is no possibility
either of failure or of any change of purpose. The eternity of God's purpose
is therefore a strong ground of confidence and hope. God is not like our politicians.
We side with one and vote for that one and we can only hope that he'll
come anywhere near to doing what he promised. Not so with our God. All He's ever said He'll do,
it's as good as done. Another preacher of old, John
Owen, wrote, when the Holy Spirit moves to regenerate a person, He removes all obstacles, overcomes all resistance, and
infallibly produces the result he intended. So much for feeble man or so much for a feeble God pleading
with strong men to please let me save you. When the Holy Spirit moves to
regenerate a person, He removes all obstacles, overcomes all
resistance, and infallibly produces the result He intended. Another writer said, the shallow
faith of our day can be attributed in great measure to our low views
of God, that He is only slightly superior
to us. We have failed to study the moral
excellencies of our God. This has led to conceit and ignorance,
whereby we have exalted ourselves and our achievements forgetting
that we have nothing and can do nothing unless it is given
us from above. Our theology has become self-centered
instead of God-centered. I agree with all those great
statements of old. I heard a well-known preacher,
respected preacher known all over America say just a few days
ago He said God goes out of His way to use broken people. Now that sounded real good, but he did not realize the shadow
that he cast on the character of God. He said God goes out
of His way to use broken people. God does use broken people, but
He does not go out of His way. That is His way and has been from eternity. I'll say it like this. God does
nothing He hadn't always been going to do. We haven't talked Him into anything.
We haven't talked him out of anything. The Lord knows I've
tried. So how high is the Most High
in knowledge, in wisdom, in thought, in ways, in purpose, in providence,
in success? He is superior beyond measure
to man. Paul wrote the Ephesians, Ephesians
3.20, and he said this, Here's the deal. God is able. Able to what? Able to do. Do what? Above all that we ask
or even think. How much above? Abundantly above. But that's not all. Exceeding
abundantly above. all that we can ask or think. God is able to do more than you
can even think, let alone ask. We need but consider some characters
in God's Word and some of the experience of their life to see
this extreme superiority of God, wisdom, foresight, purpose and
providence superior to us both in thoughts
and in ways. For example, now those of you
that are not familiar with this story in the book of Genesis,
you should be. When Jacob deceived his father Isaac and obtained
the blessing of the firstborn from his brother Esau, He wasn't the firstborn, but
he got the blessing. God was in that. I heard a preacher preaching one
time about how awful that was for Jacob to do that. God was
in it. And because of that, Esau, his
brother, wanted to kill him. And because the parents saw that,
Jacob was sent away out of the country to his mother's brother,
Uncle Laban, where he worked for him for many years. And he worked for him to get
the woman he loved, Laban's daughter, Rachel. And when the time came for him
to receive Rachel for his wife, Laban deceived him in the night
and gave him Rachel's sister Leah instead. When Jacob woke
up in the morning, he was very upset. He was furious, but God
was in it. Starting with Jacob stealing
the birthright now, things are moving. He's out of the country,
got the wrong wife, the one he didn't want. God's in it. So
he served more years for Rachel. When he finally got her, she's barren. God was in that. And after the Lord had given
Jacob Ten sons through Leah the first wife and her handmaid,
and Rachel's handmaid. Ten sons. The Lord then opened
Rachel's womb and gave her a son, and she called his name Joseph. Because he was the only son that
came through Rachel, the love of his wife. the love of his
life. Jacob loved Joseph more than
all the other sons and didn't care who knew it. God was in that. And because of Jacob's love for
Joseph, it caused all the other sons to hate Joseph. God was
in that. You see, when you go to look
at history, even in your own life, and you start seeing God
didn't mean for that to happen. That wasn't supposed to happen. God must have blinked His eyes
when that happened. You're getting all messed up. God's in it all. Now because all the brothers
hated Joseph, they sold him. into slavery. What an awful thing to do to
your brother. God was in that. He was carried down into Egypt.
God was in that. A slave in Potiphar's house. He was falsely accused and thrown
in prison. Yes, God was in that. In the prison, he met Pharaoh's
butler and baker, who for some offense had been thrown into
prison. God was in that. They both had a dream. Joseph
interpreted their dreams. And he said to the butler, within
three days, they're going to come unlock this cell and you're
going to be restored to your position. as butler in the house
of the Pharaoh. And he said to the baker, within
three days they will execute you, kill you. And it happened exactly that
way. God was in that. Joseph made the butler promise
to speak a word to Pharaoh on his behalf. The butler forgot and didn't. God was in that. After two full years, the Bible
says the Pharaoh dreamed a dream. He called in his magicians and
wise men to interpret his dream. And they couldn't. Then the butler
remembered Joseph. And he told the Pharaoh about
Joseph and how he had interpreted his dream in the baker's dream.
And Pharaoh sent for Joseph, took him out of the prison, brought
him to the palace, and Joseph interpreted Pharaoh's dream. He interpreted it as such. He saw these fat cattle and lean
cattle coming up out of the river. He said, there's going to be
seven years of plenty. The crops are going to be great
for seven years. And after that, there's going
to be seven years of famine. It's going to be bitter. It's
going to be hard. And Joseph said to Pharaoh, look you out
a man. You need to find a man to put
in charge of all the food supply and the
granaries in these seven good years and prepare for the famine
that's sure to come. And Pharaoh said, I couldn't
do better. than you. You're the man. God was in that. In one day,
he went from life imprisonment to being the governor of Egypt,
second in command only to the Pharaoh. Absolutely, God was in that. And when the famine came, Joseph
was very wise for the first seven years. And when the famine came,
not only was Egypt prepared to sustain themselves, but surrounding
nations as well, including Israel. Back up in Israel, when things
got really tough, Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt. And he sent his sons, the same
sons that had sold their brother, sent them down to Egypt to buy
corn. And the man that they had to
come face to face with was their own brother whom they had sold. They didn't know it. They didn't
know him. He knew them. They had no idea it was him. And after a few trips, Joseph
made himself known. And he sent for his father. And
he sent for his little brother, Benjamin, his only full brother,
to come and live in Egypt. And the Bible says that Jacob
and all the sons and their families, there were 70 souls that came. And they were given, because
of Joseph, they were given the choicest part of Egypt to live
in, the land of Goshen. That's an Old Testament picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ who provided for all His people.
The Lord was in it all. In the brothers' guilt, Joseph
said to them, Don't beat yourselves up over this. You didn't send me here. God
did. So the next time you're ready
to cuss that person that done you wrong, the next time that hatred boils
up in you, you say, God did this. They couldn't
have done it. if he hadn't have done it. And he went on to say to them, you meant it for evil. Hated
me, sold me, you wanted rid of me. You meant it for evil. God meant it for good. He had to go through all these
steps of being despised, being sold, being falsely accused,
being in prison, being forgotten, and finally exalted in order
to be in the position he was supposed to be in when the Israelites needed help
in time of famine. Wow. The Lord was working behind the
scenes all the time. And so He does in your life and
in mine. You say, well, I don't see it.
Of course you don't see it. And it's not the greatness of
the position in this world that matters. The beauty is that God Himself
is doing the arranging. Don't ever think that you could
have done a better job with your life than God has done. Just be yourself, love the Lord,
and leave the success stories to Him. I promise you, all His
work is successful. When we look at what God has
done and what He is doing and what He's going to do, and set
it beside the way we would like things to be, we definitely don't have the
same idea of what success is. But he is successful. I've known some people in life,
some for many years, all my life almost, and they haven't meant a whole
lot in my life. Hopefully they have in others,
but not mine. But then there's other people that I've known
just two or three or four years along the way that had a profound impact on
my life. And only God could have done
that. They weren't the smartest people. But they were the right people
that loved me and I loved them. Some I was only around a few
times. Don't take God long to do what He's going to do. One Sunday morning years ago,
we had an old man walked in here, 81 years old. His name was Bill
Keys. He came that day by himself,
didn't have his wife with him. He was toting these papers. He
had these petitions to sign to try to get Prior back in school.
Well, good thing, good thing. But when he heard me preach that
salvation is of the Lord, that we didn't choose Him, He
chose us. The wheels begin to turn. That God's not on the little
end of this thing. We are. The wheels begin to turn. The next Sunday, He was back
here without the petitions. He grasped right quick that if
God wanted prairie and schools, they'd be there. And he began to swallow, I mean
just like a, I shouldn't use this term, a certain kind of
people eating watermelon. He was eating it up. And he was such a blessing to
our little congregation, he and his wife, for just two or three
years. until the Lord took him home. Hundreds of people I've known
longer than I knew him, but they didn't have the impact that he
did. One Sunday morning, old Doc Russell,
my first cousin, came walking in. Educated man. Been a school teacher all his
life. Been a principal of a school for many years. And he heard me preaching that
by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works,
lest any man should boast. And he told me after the service
that day, he said, I have, he said, I've been in these little
mountain churches all my life. And I have never heard that. All I've heard about is what
I'm supposed to do instead of what God has done.
This is it, folks, what God has done. You can trust Him. You can rest in Him. You might
not trust the rest of us, but you can trust Him. And He's not wanting you to save
yourself. Trust Him with it. Trust Him
with it. And then, one Sunday morning, a lady came
walking in, sat down right back here on my right. She was down
to earth, very friendly, great personality. But you could tell
she had been quite sophisticated in life, been a lot of places,
played the piano at Carnegie Hall, had a music career. Her name was Jackie Jackson. We had no pianist at the time.
She played the piano for us. And after hearing the gospel
of God's grace, she said to me, I've always heard the emphasis
placed on what we do for the Lord instead of what He's done for
us. And she said, it's so blessed.
It's such a relief. It's like being out of prison
to know that I don't have to save myself. She left us with cancer after
just two or three years. The Lord took her home. These
were ordinary people like you and I. The Lord opened their
eyes to the truth, and they loved it, and latched on to it, and
rejoiced in it, and rested in Christ, and were a blessing to
others. So this morning, if you're God's
child, don't ever think you're not making a difference
somewhere with someone of God's choosing. Not your choosing. It's not who you choose to impress. It's the impact and the influence
that God chooses through your life to other lives. most of the influence of your
life you'll not know about in this life. And that's a good thing. Your
hat wouldn't fit. So how awful we need to be careful
and not to shun and forsake and be uncoupled, unsatisfied, and
unhappy with what the Lord does in our lives. I realize not everybody belongs
in this church, and maybe you don't. I don't know where else you'd
hear that, but I'm honest enough to say that. But if you feel the Lord has
put you here, I want to tell you something.
The devil will try to use every little thing that happens to
get you out, to get you out. So be careful. As old brother
Ralph senior used to say, just bloom where you're planted. We've got plants we want to bloom,
they don't bloom. Can't make them bloom. Then after
you give up, you look around and there's a bloom. Bloom where you're planted. If you're supposed to be somewhere
else, God will make it happen. But right now you're here. So
let's love one another, pray for one another, help one another,
worship God together, and help one another on up this bumpy
road toward home. Like the little old country boy,
some of you heard this before, giving somebody directions. He told, the fellow said, The
road is awful rough, only after you're under a few miles until
you pass the cemetery. But when you pass the cemetery,
it's smooth sailing. That's life. That's life. This road is awful rough for
God's children until we get to the cemetery. And then it's smooth
sailing. We need each other to get on
up this bumpy road. And I'm saying the Lord most
high who knows all and sees all who sent his son to die for us
and has redeemed us and has washed us from our sins in his own blood. He won't stop. He's never aborted
a mission. He will help us on home. And
who in their right mind would want anything different than what God is doing in our
lives?