Series: Isaiah
Title: God’s Ways and Thoughts
Text: Isaiah 55: 7-9
Date: July 6, 2014
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
Isaiah 55:7: 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. 8: For
my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,
saith the LORD. 9: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
There is the first heaven—our atmosphere,
stars and moon. Then there is the second
heaven—outer space, planets and solar system. Then there is the third
heaven—where Paul was taken up, where Stephen saw Christ standing at the right
hand of God, from where New Jerusalem shall descend out of heaven adorned as a
bride for her husband. God says, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We left the Dalles, Oregon late Sunday. This
week we drove along the coast on our way to Rescue. One night we slept in a tent. That night we built a fire on the beach. We
all sat looking up at the stars. “It is absurd that anyone could think all of
this just came into being instead of believing God made all of this!” As we
looked up at that sky full of stars, I thought of verse, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” All God’s ways
and all God’s thoughts are higher than all our ways and all our thoughts. But
our text shows us three points which we will focus on.
Proposition:
Concerning sin, concerning mercy and concerning pardon, God’s ways and thoughts
are higher than our ways and thoughts.
I. CONCERNIGN OUR SIN, GOD’S WAY AND GOD’S
THOUGHTS ARE HIGHER THAN OUR WAY AND OUR THOUGHTS—V7: Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts…8: For my thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
The
Lord says, “Your way is wicked so forsake your way, for it is not my way;” he
says, “likewise, you’re your thoughts are unrighteous so forsake your thoughts,
for they are not my thoughts. And return unto the LORD.”
We were
conceived in sin in our mother’s wombs. We
thought sin is what we do. We thought if we cleaned up our act we would be
fine. But sin is not only what we do, sin is what we are. All our ways are wicked and unrighteousness, even all our thoughts
are wicked and unrighteous. Our hearts are wicked and unrighteous by nature.
Genesis 6:5: 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.
Job 15:
14: What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of
a woman, that he should be righteous? 15: Behold, he putteth no trust in his
saints; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight. 16: How much more abominable
and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water?
Psalm 85: 1: Do ye indeed speak righteousness, O
congregation? do ye judge uprightly, O ye sons of men? 2: Yea, in heart ye work
wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. 3: The wicked are
estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
4: Their poison is like the poison of a serpent: they are like
the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; 5: Which will not hearken to the
voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.
The
Voice of our Lord Jesus Christ speaks in the preaching of the gospel. By God’s
grace, some hear—“my sheep hear my Voice!” Others stop the ear and are
hardened—it is because your minds are set on hearing something you can do to
save yourself. That is the only thing
the dead sinner has his mind set on: his wicked way and his unrighteous
thoughts.
Romans 8: 5: For they that are after the flesh do mind
the things of the flesh;…8: So then they that are in the flesh cannot please
God.
I will
give you an example of our wicked and unrighteous thoughts: when you hear
wickedness and unrighteousness do you think only of lewd, immoral sins? They
are included. Yet, after the fall, Adam’s first act was
not an act of lewd immorality but an attempt to cover his sin and make self, acceptable
to God.
Man’s
chief sin is our our vain thoughts that we are not wicked and unrighteous in
heart—that we know ways to make ourselves righteous and holy and accepted of
God. Vain ways and thoughts like:
·
A reformation of life—Job
14:4: Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.
·
By the works of the law—Romans
3; 19: Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who
are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may
become guilty before God. 20: Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no
flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
·
Of joining the church and doing religious works—Mt 23:15…ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte,
and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than
yourselves.
·
Searching the scriptures to find life by his our will and
works rather than fleeing to Christ—John
5: 39: Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and
they are they which testify of me. 40: And ye will not come to me,
that ye might have life. [freely
given]
We have
no right thoughts of:
·
How deadly and corrupting sin is—man looks on the outward, God looks on the heart. “Draw
near me with your mouth and honor me with your lips, but your heart is far from
me.” (Mt 15: 8)
·
Vain thoughts of how God hates sin—God cannot and will not receive us as sinners—Pr 15:9 The way of the wicked is an abomination unto
the LORD:…Pr 15:26: The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the
LORD:…Pr 21:27 The sacrifice of the
wicked is abomination…Pro 28: 9:…even his prayer shall be abomination….
·
Vain thoughts not knowing the wages of sin is death—We are guilty before God’s holy law. Justice demands we must die—the wages of sin
is death. No other way.
Illustration: We see our sin only by looking to
Christ. It snowed at our house and I took a white sheet, it looked clean and
white. Laid on the snow. I discovered it
was not white at all. Likewise, we see our sin looking to Christ. He is holy in thought, word and deed—no lie. Look
to the cross to see what it took to put away sin, how God spared not his own
Son.
Concerning
sin, our way and our thought are not God’s thoughts. So God says, Isaiah 55: 7: Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD… 8: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
II. SECONDLY, CONCERNING GOD’S MERCY, OUR WAY
AND OUR THOUGHTS ARE NOT GOD’S WAY AND GOD’S THOUGHTS—V7:…let him return unto
the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him;…8: For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Mercy
is God withholding from us what we deserve. Sinner, do you think that if you
come to Christ he will turn you away because your sin is too great? Our thoughts
of how Christ will receive us is usually formed from our ways of showing mercy
to those who have sinned against us. We think things like:
·
I could have mercy on him but he did this
against my person, my character.
·
But he did this willfully, maliciously
against me.
·
But his offense is far too great and hurtful
against me.
·
But he has shown no regard to my authority or
my rights.
·
But he has done this to me repeatedly.
·
But I did nothing to provoke the things he
did against me.
·
If I showed mercy he would just do it again.
·
But he must first make up for all that he has
done for me before I will have mercy on him.
So we
apply our thoughts to God’s thoughts of mercy toward us. But God says, return unto the LORD, and he will have
mercy upon you...For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways
my ways, saith the LORD.
Indeed,
we have sinned against God’s holy character.
·
We have sinned willfully, maliciously against
God.
·
Our offenses are great and hurtful
·
We have shown no regard to God authority and
rights as God
·
We have done so repeatedly.
·
God did nothing to provoke us to sin against
God.
·
And you and I shall sin against God again and
again
But God
requires nothing of you and I to make up for all that we have done against him
before he will have mercy on us. God says, return
unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon you...For my thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
You
see, in order to come to the LORD seeking mercy you must be a sinner. Only
sinners need to be saved by God’s mercies. God is plenteous in mercy and God
delights to show mercy. But only to
sinners who cannot save themselves.
Everything
God has done for those who come to Christ was done while we were yet sinners. God’s
mercy is that God chose a people in Christ before the world began, and made us
accepted in Christ, though God knew we would become sinners
Lamentations 3:22
It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his
compassions fail not.
God
shows his people mercy by not consuming us even before we were born-again. God’s
mercy is that Christ died for sinners even while we were sinners.
Romans
5: 8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us
God’s mercy is that Christ effectually calls sinners to life
and repentance, even while we were sinners.
Mark 2: 17:…They that are whole have no need of the
physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance.
In mercy
he effectually regenerates us, in mercy he effectually grants us repentance and
faith, in mercy he effectually calls us. If you come seeking mercy it is
because God has already sought you in mercy!
GOD DID ALL OF THIS WHILE AS YET WE WERE
SINNERS. SO GOD WILL RECEIVE A SINNER! A
SINNER IS THE ONLY ONE CHRIST WILL RECEIVE.
Illustration: A sinner who God has just made to see his sin is
sometimes hesitant to simply cast all his care into Christ’s hand. Orphan boy walking down the street. He came to a big window. Inside was a long
lunch line of hot food. There he stood hungry. A man said, “Come inside boy and
eat!”
The
little boy said, “I cannot come inside. I am dirty. My clothes are dirty.” The
man said, “Are you an orphan, son?” He
said, “Yes sir.” The man said, “Son this feast is prepared just for orphans.”
Christ
says, “This feast is prepared for just sinners!”—Isaiah 55: 1: Ho, every one
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. 2…hearken
diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in fatness. 3: Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul
shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David.
Don’t’
let it enter your mind that God will not receive you because you are a sinner. Sin
doesn’t drive us away, sin makes us seek mercy in Christ. So God says forsake
your thoughts and your ways, and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have
mercy upon him; For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
III. LASTLY, CONCERNING PARDON—FREE FORGIVENESS OF OUR SINS—OUR THOUGHTS AND WAYS
ARE NOT GOD’S THOUGHTS AND GOD’S WAYS—V7: and [return] to our God, for he will
abundantly pardon…8: For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your
ways my ways, saith the LORD.
But “The
wages of sin is death. So how can God forgive a sinner like me and yet remain
just? How can I die and yet live.”
Illustration: Darius walked the floor and could not figure out a
way—God found a way!
The
only way God could remain just to his unbending law and yet justify his people
is by God himself doing the work—by the doing and dying of Christ the Way. God
can freely pardon sinners and yet remain just because when Christ laid down his
life for his sheep—the old man of sin in
all God’s elect died.
Romans 6: 1: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in
sin, that grace may abound? 2: God forbid. How shall we, that ARE DEAD TO SIN,
LIVE any longer therein?...6: Knowing this, that our old man IS crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not
serve sin. 7: For he that is dead is freed from sin.
“Dead
to sin” means before the all-seeing eye of God, when Christ died, all God’s
elect died to the guilt and condemning power of sin. Dead men don’t sin. Believers
are not dead to sins influence, to sins presence, or to sins effects. But
before God we are dead to the guilt and condemnation of sin. Before God, we cannot continue in sin because
before God our old man, who does the sinning, is dead.
God can
freely pardon sinners and yet remain just because when Christ laid down his
life for his sheep—all God’s elect died
to the law.
Romans 7: 1:…the law hath dominion over a man as long as
he liveth?
The law
has nothing to say to a dead man. Before
God, when Christ was made a curse for his people under the penalty of the law,
our old man of sin died to the law.
Romans 7: 4: Wherefore, my brethren, ye also ARE BECOME
DEAD TO THE LAW by the body of Christ;…6:…now we are delivered from the law, that
being dead wherein we were held
Romans 6: 14: sin shall not have dominion over you: for
ye are not under the law, but under grace.
God can
pardon sinners and yet remain just because when Christ arose, all his people
arose in him—so everyone born of his
Spirit is dead to death, alive forevermore.
Romans 6: 9: Knowing that Christ being raised from the
dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10: For in that he
died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11: Likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be DEAD INDEED unto sin, but ALIVE unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Our old man of flesh shall die. It is the same as when we were born:
spiritually dead and dying because our flesh is only sin and evil. God has not
altered our sin-nature. But with Christ dwelling in us, there is a new man
created in righteousness and true holiness, in which we shall go to be with the
LORD immediately when we die.
Now, for the believer, God says, Hebrews 10:
17…their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
We could
have never imagined that God would give his only-begotten Son to die for guilty
sinners. It was a thought which
never would have crossed man’s mind if God had not first revealed it in our
hearts. But it is of God’s thoughts and God’s way.
All
our thoughts and all our ways are wicked and unrighteous: concerning sin,
concerning mercy and concerning pardon. So God says,
Romans 10: 4: For Christ is the end of the law for
righteousness to every one that believeth. 5: For Moses describeth the
righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall
live by them. 6: But the righteousness which is of faith
speaketh on this wise,…9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved. 10: For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness;
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Acts 13: 39: And by him all that believe are justified
from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Isaiah 55: 7: 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. 8: For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. 9: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are
my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Amen!