A Sermon Delivered On Sunday Morning, December 2, 1877, By C. H. Spurgeon, At The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways,” says 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.”
[Isa
55:8,9]
For other sermons on this text:
[See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 676, “Man’s Thoughts
and God’s Thoughts” 667]
[See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 1387, “God’s
Thoughts and Ways Far Above Ours” 1378]
[See Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2181, “God Forgiving
Sin” 2182]
Exposition on Isa 55
Jer 30:1-11 [See Spurgeon_Sermons No.
3419, “God the Husband of His People” 3421 @@
"Exposition"]
Exposition on Isa 55 [See
Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2278, “Feeding on the Word” 2279 @@
"Exposition"]
Exposition on Isa 55 [See
Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2581, “Perfection in Christ” 2582
@@ "Exposition"]
Exposition on Isa 55 [See
Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2797, “Need and Nature of
Conversion, The” 2798 @@ "Exposition"]
Exposition on Isa 55 [See
Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2954, “Big Gates Wide Open, The”
2955 @@ "Exposition"]
Exposition on Isa 55 [See
Spurgeon_Sermons No. 3299, “Ho! Ho!” 3301 @@
"Exposition"]
Exposition on Ps 138
Isa 55:1-11
Ro 8:28-39 [See Spurgeon_Sermons No.
3422, “Call to the Depressed, A” 3424 @@ "Exposition"]
Exposition on Ps 23 Isa 55 [See
Spurgeon_Sermons No. 2886, “Restless! Peaceless!” 2887
@@ "Exposition"]
[See Spurgeon_SermonTexts "Isa
55:9"]
1. Very often the great truth expressed by this Scripture must have forced itself upon every thoughtful mind. Though we think and are so far like God because, being intelligent beings, we have thoughts of our own, yet our thoughts must for ever be weak and fragmentary as compared with his thoughts: and though as free agents we have ways of our own choice, in some of which we move with great show of wisdom, yet our ways are upon the earth, and cannot attain to the ways of the Lord, which are far above us. This is true concerning his proceedings in providence. God’s designs are vast and far-reaching, and his methods are frequently strange and inscrutable, though always wise. We have little plans to suit our little foresight and power, but his ways are unsearchable. Often he brings light of excessive brightness from more dense than usual darkness; and produces superior joys out of extraordinary sorrows. In infinite wisdom he causes the most furious storms to cast up upon the shore the pearl of peace. He is wonderful both in counsel and in working and always chooses that way in which his glory is most abundantly displayed. Our way, which for a time we think to be the best, when it is scanned by the enlightened eye soon turns out to be as much beneath God’s way of accomplishing the desired purpose as the earth is beneath the heavens. Compared with him our wisdom is folly, and our prudence madness. Indeed, we may not compare ourselves with the Lord, for there is no comparison: call it a contrast, and you have the word. So sublime is Providence that we do not comprehend it; it is so good that we are filled with wonder as we see its designs unfolded. We see its bright side at times and sun ourselves in its warm light, and then we adore and magnify the Lord. Yet, we never knew the half of the hidden benefits which he is working out for us; nor do we suspect the Lord of a tenth of the goodness which he stores up for us. At other times we have felt the night side of providence, and have sorrowed in its chilly shade; yes, and perhaps we have even rebelled against it; and yet at that very time the Lord’s purposes have been divinely rich towards us, and the night has been the choicest season of benediction. We do not have the wings of eagles on which to soar to the extreme height of the dealings of the Lord; we walk below and look up wonderingly, as men gaze on the stars: we are sure that we are safe beneath the sublime all covering power, but we are equally clear that the longest experience and the most profound thought will never measure the height of the thoughts and ways of the Eternal.
2. The words, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,” are equally true in reference to the things of grace, for there the Lord of love has altogether left our thoughts behind. Could man have dreamed that he was the object of eternal love, and that God would assume his nature? Could we have imagined that the Almighty would give his only-begotten Son to die for guilty man? The atonement was a thought which never would have crossed man’s mind if it had not first of all been revealed to him by the great Father. The divine way of lifting up the poor from the dust and the needy from the dunghill, by his rich, free, omnipotent grace, is not of man nor by man. The Lord’s thought of choosing the base things of this world, and things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are, his thoughts of sovereignty and thoughts of grace, — all consistent with his thoughts of justice, are far above human invention, and out of man’s range of thought.
3. Even when the Lord explains
his thoughts and ways to us, and brings them down to our
comprehension as far as they can be, still we marvel at
their elevation and grandeur —
Great God of wonders! all thy ways
Are matchless, Godlike, and divine.
Have you not often stood in mute astonishment as you
have discovered some fresh blessing of the covenant
before unknown to you? Like a miner who turns over
another nugget in the mine, and stands in amazed
delight, so you have mingled faith with astonishment.
Have you not known what it is to do as David did when
Nathan brought him news of the Lord’s covenant with him
— “Then King David went in, and sat before the Lord, and
he said, ‘Who am I, oh Lord God? and what is my house,
that you have brought me so far? And is this the manner
of man, oh Lord God?’ ” Have not such fits of
astonishment been upon you also? Have you not cried with
the apostle, “Oh the depth of the riches both of the
wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out!” Hundreds of
times between now and heaven will the similar glad
astonishment seize us, and perhaps in heaven itself
wondering will be a leading part of our enjoyment. We
shall —
Sing with wonder and surprise
His lovingkindness in the skies.
Do not the victorious hosts which stand upon the sea of glass, having the harps of God, sing the song of Moses, the servant of the Lord, and of the Lamb, saying, “Great and marvellous are your works, Lord God Almighty?” The thoughts of God will even in heaven be above our most sublime thoughts, and his ways even then above our most heavenly ways. How exalted is the Lord! His glory is above the earth and heavens! How tenderly does he overpower us with the splendour of his goodness; soothing where he might confound. In grace and love, who is like you, oh Lord? Among the gods who is like you? Understanding faints in attempting to ascend to you. Imagination, to which you have given a half creative faculty, cannot imagine a thought of equal height to your thoughts, nor conceive of a way which may bear comparison with your ways. What better can we do, great God, than bow our heads and reverently adore?
4. This morning, in trying to discuss our text, we will endeavour to illustrate it by its own connection. There are many ways of handling Scripture, but to my mind the freshest and most instructive is to expound it by its context. To pick out a plum here and there is the children’s method, but hardly satisfies the students of the word. “Let us not rend it,” is extremely good advice with regard to Scripture, which is in some sense the garment of God. I will take hold of the central part of the rich piece of silken truth contained in this chapter, and I will lift up the whole fabric before you and ask you to observe its texture, and notice how wonderfully it is made throughout. Exposition is always nourishing to the Lord’s people, and it is this which we shall strive for. I think there are three things which are very clear in the text if viewed in its context: first, in the text there is rebuke administered; secondly, there is repentance encouraged; and, thirdly, there is expectation aroused.
5. I. First in the text there is REBUKE ADMINISTERED, for so it runs: “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.”
6. Do you not observe a kind of ringing of the changes upon the words “thoughts” and “ways?” This proves to my mind that the connection mainly lies in this first point. The Lord says, “Forsake your way, for it is not my way; leave your thoughts, for they are not my thoughts. Your way ought to be my way; your thoughts ought to be my thoughts, as far as the weakness of creatureship will allow. But it is not so: you have wandered away from me; you do not think such thoughts as I would have you think, you do not walk in such a way as I would have you choose: therefore forsake your ways and your thoughts, and turn to your God.” It is a remonstrance tenderly administered, combined with such sweet exhortation that no degree of bitterness is perceptible in it. The rebuke is enveloped in love, and made into a sugarcoated pill: the sweet promise of abundant pardon conceals the reproof.
7. Now let us take the rebuke and notice, first, the fault of man’s thoughts: “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” As between each other, God’s thoughts are not man’s, though they ought to be. God’s thoughts are love, pity, tenderness; ours are forgetfulness, ingratitude, and hard-heartedness. He thinks of us as lost sheep are thought of by the shepherd, as a prodigal child is thought of by his father: but our thoughts are not of the same kind. In its wandering state the sheep has no thought of returning to the Shepherd, and the prodigal son, until converting grace meets him, has no reciprocal affection towards his Father. It is sad that the God of love should have to say, “My thoughts are not your thoughts.” God’s thoughts towards us are thoughts of love, but not so ours to him. He is tender concerning our comfort, but we are not tender concerning his honour; he considers our interests, but we do not think of his glory; he watches over our safety, but we are not watchful to keep his statutes. He loads us with benefits, but we only load him with our sins; he has given us all that we have, but we bring him cold thanks in return. You love, oh ungodly men, to live without remembering God: he is not in all your thoughts. You have no consideration for your Maker, no deference for your Preserver, no care for your best Friend. He feels your ungrateful behaviour, for he says, “If then I am a father, where is my honour? and if I am a master, where is my respect?” Alas, man does not return according to the benefit received, but often renders evil for good. When the Lord condescended to visit earth as the incarnate God, the acts of man proved that his thoughts are not God’s thoughts. God’s thoughts were all goodness towards men, but men found him here in human form, and their thoughts and ways were full of enmity and murder towards him; therefore they cried, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” How terribly has man departed from his God!
8. Your thoughts concerning your conduct are not God’s thoughts. He considers that the creatures he has made should obey him, but you judge that it does not matter what a man does towards his Maker as long as he is just towards his fellow men. God declares that no conduct can justify a man unless it is absolutely perfect, and wholly conformed to his law; but man imagines that if he does his best it will suffice, and that even if he does not do his best a little profession of repentance will settle old scores, and he may stand self-justified before God. Man thinks that he has done wondrously if he gives now and then a little attention to outward religion, even though his heart may be far from God; but the Lord looks at the heart, and searches the secret places of the mind, and he values nothing except what is done out of love for him. Man slights the inward and only regards the outward, for God’s thoughts are not his thoughts. Oh you who are satisfied with your own conduct, and perfectly content that things are well enough with you, I beseech you to remember that your self-congratulatory thoughts are not the thoughts of God. He looks into the soul’s secrets, and he is not deceived by the words and professions of those who draw near to him with their lips but in secret continue in their iniquity.
9. God’s thoughts, again, concerning the life which a man needs in order to obtain salvation are very different from man’s thoughts. Did you notice how in this chapter he says, “Hear, and your soul shall live?” He considers, then, that man is dead until he has heard the word of God in his soul. Man considers that he is alive enough; he is perfectly satisfied with the mental life which he possesses, and does not desire spiritual life, for as yet he cannot apprehend it. Here is a wide difference! God thinks of you, oh sinner, as dead and beginning to corrupt. He thinks of you as we think of a corpse when we cry, “Bury my dead out of my sight.” But you think of yourself as of a creature fair to look upon, filled with beauty, abounding with ability, and able to perform all spiritual acts at pleasure. Your boast is that you have freedom of will and force of heart to set all things right whenever it pleases you, and courage and resolution to rout every wrong which may assail you. You are as strong as Goliath and as brave as David in your own esteem; but God does not think so. His eternal Spirit knows that you are dead, and he has come to bring you life: take heed that you do not reject it. Do not say in your heart, “I have life enough, and want nothing from the Most High,” for this would be your certain destruction.
10. God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, again, in reference to the truth. God’s thoughts of truth are evidently not man’s, for nothing but divine grace can bring man to believe the doctrines of the gospel, or keep him faithful to them. Each generation seems to bring out its own set of men who set themselves to oppose God’s truth from some new angle. These scribes and counters of the towers are wonderfully busy just now. We have among us a great company of men who have attained fame through daring to assail established truth — wise men if we take their own judgment of themselves, for they are never more at home than when sounding the praises of their own culture and breadth of mind. These Philistines have intruded into the temple under the pretence of trimming our lamps, but their purpose is to put them out. Evangelistic light is too clear for them, and they seek to obscure it, hence they give new readings to texts which are translated by better scholars than they will ever be, and put new interpretations upon the doctrines which their fathers held, — interpretations which their forefathers would indignantly repudiate. Roughly speaking, these men deny everything which faith holds dear, and yet expect to be considered to be Christians. They tear the vitals from every truth, and yet pretend to believe it. Their advanced thought, like a vampire, sucks the blood out of the veins of truth, and he who would drive away the foul thing is called a bigot and a fool. These reverend infidels are to be tolerated as our ministers, or if we decline to consider those to be Christian ministers who spend all their energies in undermining Christianity, we are in danger of being ridiculed by the sage party which now clamours in the public ear. Well, it was always so. Man thinks himself so wise and good that he does not like God’s thoughts concerning himself, his fall, his guilt, and his danger. He tries to think revelation over again, he places it upside down, and then he calls his mutterings “culture,” and thought. To get away from the plain teaching of Scripture he babbles about advancement — an advancement which consists in going away from the light, an advancement which will bring us back to starknaked infidelity unless God in infinite mercy shall arrest it. Man does not like the thoughts of God. If God thinks of man as depraved he will not have it: he feels that it is a shameful thing to speak like this of such a noble being as himself. If God declares that man is so fallen that he must be born again, he will not have it: he will sprinkle a few drops of water on a babe’s face — hocus-pocus, presto! the thing is done. If God thinks that the sinner shall be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, men’s fears are quieted by being assured by some great divine that there is no hell, that he cannot find mention of it in the Bible, and that at the worst he will only cease to be. Hence they think, in opposition to the divine thinking, for evermore it is true, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”
11. In the matter of salvation God’s thoughts are not man’s thoughts, for God thinks that man has so sinned that he must be condemned unless a substitute is found. Man does not think so. God sets before him pardon freely presented through the precious blood: man thinks to buy it by his devotions, or to win it by his merits. Hence the language preceding our text: “Why do you spend money for what is not bread? and your labour for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in richness. Incline your ear, and come to me: hear, and your soul shall live” and so on. Those verses hold in essence the thought of our text; “ ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ says the Lord.”
12. See then, dear friends, that this is a call to repentance. Man, if you think properly, you will submit to think as God thinks. If your thoughts are what they should be, they will not contradict God’s thoughts, for he knows more than you, and knows better than you. The Infinite, the Eternal, is he to be judged by man’s judgment? Is he to be analysed in the chemist’s laboratory? Are his thoughts to be ridiculed because they are contrary to the reigning philosophy which is probably no more true than the many other forms of human ignorance which have previously come and gone in the centuries of the past? Will not the present dream of mortal wisdom melt like a mist before the sun of gospel truth? Is God’s great system of salvation and providence to be called to the judgment bar of the scientists, who can do no more than dote after the manner of their predecessors? Shall divine revelation be judged and condemned, as men try a thief? Indeed, worse than this, these sages so despise the teaching of the Lord, that one would think they were a committee of doctors examining a maniac. Let us abhor the presumption of scepticism, and let us be wise enough to know our folly; rational enough to feel that God is to be obeyed, and not questioned; and that his revelation is to be believed, and not criticised. Though we think crookedly, God’s thoughts are upright; though we think grovellingly, God thinks sublimely: though we think upon a finite and erroneous scale, God thinks infinitely and infallibly; and it is ours continually to correct our thoughts by the infallible word, so that our minds are kept in harmony with the sure utterances of the Holy Spirit.
13. Now, the text advances to say that man’s ways are not like God’s: “My ways are not your ways.” Our ways are the outward actions which spring out of our thoughts. God’s ways are ways of holiness and purity. God has never done anything unjust to his creature or unrighteous to himself. But our ways are not so; they are full of error, marred with evil, polluted with impurity. By nature we love what we ought to hate. We often exchange bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Oh, brethren, when you think of the character of God and then think of the best man who ever lived, truly “as high as the heavens are above the earth” his ways are above our ways. God’s ways are ways of love and tenderness, he is very full of pity and compassion: but our ways are not so — we are often very harsh towards each other, and we do not return a filial love to God. I mean we do not unless his grace meets us, and even then we fall far short of walking in the love of God as he walks in love towards us. God’s ways are ways of truth: he never lies, he has never been unfaithful towards us or untrue to his promise; but we, on the other hand, have proven false to him many a time. “You have dealt very treacherously,” said the prophet of old, and the charge lies against us to this day. We have been traitors towards God, but he has been fidelity itself towards us. Our good resolves have dissolved in air; our promises have been broken; our vows have all been forgotten. God is all truth and faithfulness towards us, and we are all doubtful and untrusting and treacherous towards him, and were it not for his divine grace we should have even fallen into apostasy, and been like the son of perdition who betrayed his Lord.
14. God’s ways are ways of forgiveness and peace. He does not desire the death of the sinner. He is very patient, he suffers long, he bears continually with our provocations. He is desirous that men should acquaint themselves with him, and be at peace. His ways are ways of reconciliation, ways of forgiveness, ways of love and kindness; but do you not see that the ways of the natural man are perverse? By nature we do not desire to be friends with God; on the contrary, we seize upon anything that can aggravate our transgression and widen the breach between ourselves and our offended Lord. We have no patience; we cannot even bear with a little suffering or trial from him, without complaint and murmur. There are men around us who will turn around and curse him to his face, when his hand is striking and correcting them for their good; indeed, and they will do it wantonly for no reason at all. Our ways are not God’s ways. This is true of every sinner under heaven, and in some measure true of the best of men, — “ ‘My ways are not your ways,’ says the Lord.”
15. Well, now, beloved, two cannot walk together in heaven unless they are of one mind; so that our ways and God’s ways must be made to be alike in character. Now, it is not possible for us to conceive of God’s making his thoughts to be like our thoughts. Who would wish such a thing? Who would desire that the wise and good should stoop to think our folly, and act our madness? Who could wish that the glorious and the perfect should come down to think and act after the manner of unjust, unrighteous man? His thoughts cannot be reduced to ours — what then? Why, we must rise to him. Not, of course, to his majesty and sublimity, but we must rise to his holiness, truth, and love. Hence the command which comes before our text, “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the Lord.” If infinite purity cannot be expected to become impure, let us ask that our impurity may be taken away, and that we may be made clean in the Lord’s sight, in order to hold fellowship with him.
16. And now I ask you to consider the difficulty of this. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways.” Turn your eyes here, oh self-sufficiency! Can you vault into heaven? Standing here upon this lower earth can you with a spring leap above those stars, ascend into the holiness of God, and become a partaker of the divine nature? Surely, now you have a task set before you which will make you confess your inability. Yet such a feat must be accomplished if we are to dwell with God and have fellowship with him. These miry, filthy ways of earth must become like the pure and perfect path of the thrice-holy One or we cannot walk with him. How, then, are we to be lifted up from earth to heaven? The word that answers the question is that matchless syllable, “grace.” God in Christ Jesus, by his almighty grace, must raise us up together with Christ. He who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ must stoop down to lift us up from the grave of sin, and quicken us into eternal life, or we shall never think his thoughts or follow his ways. Into the light where he dwells we can never come except by the operations of his divine Spirit. Jesus says, “No man comes to the Father but by me,” and “No man can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws him.” The Holy Spirit must quicken us out of our trespasses and sins, deliver us from the ways in which we walk according to the course of this world, and redeem us from the dominion of the carnal mind, which is enmity against God. By sanctification he must deliver us from our indwelling corruption, and continue the process until he conforms us perfectly to the image of the peerless Son of God. He will work the likeness to Jesus in all believers, and it shall be said of us, “They are without fault before the throne of God,” and Christ himself shall say, “They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.” It is clear, then, that our text is a gentle but earnest rebuke, veiled in abounding love.
17. II. Now, secondly, we shall view the text under another aspect. Here we have REPENTANCE ENCOURAGED. Kindly look at the seventh verse: “Let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts.” It is clear that there is a connecting link between the abundance of pardon and the lofty character of God, and that men are encouraged to forsake their ways and thoughts by the hope of pardon derived from the greatness of the divine thoughts and ways.
18. First, oh sinner, turn from your way at once, and seek the Lord, and do not stand back because you cannot understand God. It is not necessary that you should comprehend his ways and thoughts; you are not asked to do so; in fact, you are told in the text that you cannot do anything of the kind. You are asked to forsake your way and receive mercy by hearing his word and believing it, for as the heavens are high above the earth, so high are his ways above your ways. You cannot understand it: you waste time while raising this question and that, prying into God’s eternal purposes, gazing into the dazzling light of sovereignty, questioning electing love, diving into mysteries of the trinity, and the like: you are to “hear, and your soul shall live.” Return to our God, and he will abundantly pardon you. Though you cannot grapple with his sublimity, submit to his mercy. You may conclude that it is not intended that you should understand the infinite, for you are told that his thoughts and ways are far above you; but you are required to seek him while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near. Come and accept his free invitation to give you wine and milk without money and without price. Forsaking your sin, come and be at peace with him at once.
19. Neither hesitate because you cannot find a parallel to the grace which God declares that he will display towards you. What if you have looked over all the history of man and you can find nothing among men that can at all equal the abundance of divine pardon, do not therefore hesitate to believe, for God’s thoughts are above all human thoughts. Man finds it hard to forgive at all. One of the sternest lessons which some men have to learn is to forgive their brethren up to seventy times seven. Man can with difficulty forgive repeated offences: he usually draws an argument for anger from the repetition of the provocation. Nor can he forgive a large number of offenders: he might pardon one, but to forgive many is more than most men will even attempt to do: they are filled with indignation, and resist those who annoy them. When offences are aggravated wilfully, when they provoke by being committed against love and against kindness, men will not forgive. Even the most forgiving become at last incensed, but God passes by myriads of transgressions. Do not wait until you find a man who could forgive you, God can do what man never dreams of doing. His thoughts are above your thoughts and his ways above your ways. Perhaps conscience has been busy concerning your own shortcomings, and you feel yourself to be self-condemned. In the honesty of your judgment you have felt compelled to cry, “I could not do otherwise than pass sentence of condemnation upon myself if I were made my own judge.” It is a correct verdict, but do not forget that Jesus died, and now mercy’s wing can mount far above all thoughts of ours; yes, the everlasting mountains of Jehovah’s forgiving love are above the heavens: grace exceeds all things. Think of this, oh repenting sinner, and be encouraged.
20. Man’s forgiveness is seldom free, like that of God, who delights to pardon sin. No sooner do we transgress than God is ready to forgive. Man’s forgiveness is never so full as God’s, for the Lord forgives and harbours no resentment, he preserves no memory of our transgressions: he casts them into the depths of the sea, and remembers them no more. Man’s forgiveness is seldom so real as God’s, for though man he says has forgiven, he does not afterwards delight in the offender as he may have done before: there is a chill in his heart towards the person who injured him, and by his cautious dealing he shows that he remembers the wrong; but the Lord God so effectively and completely forgets transgression that he presses the offender to his heart, adopts him into his family, and lifts him up to dwell for ever with him above.
21. Now, beloved, according to our text, whatever your ways towards God shall be in the future, he will exceed them. Are your ways right towards your Father now? Do you begin with trembling footsteps to seek his house? Lo, he runs to meet you. The prodigal’s Father meets him far more than half way, for his ways are above our ways. Do you stand before him weeping? It is well: these ways of repentance are good, but the ways of God are better, for Jesus stands before you, bleeding for your sake. He gives blood instead of tears. Do you love the Redeemer because of his dying for you? Alas, you do not love so greatly as he loves you: his love is a sea, and yours a tiny puddle. Will you henceforth give him all your life? Yet not such a life as he gives to you — a life perfect and eternal, and all for you! He lives for you, and says, “Because I live, you shall live also.” Come back, oh penitent, for when you do come back, if divine grace has put some goodness into your ways, yet there shall be still infinitely more goodness in the ways of God.
22. And concerning your thoughts — can you think of how he will receive you? Oh, you do not dream how gladly he will meet you, and how kindly he will receive you. You are about to cry, “I am not worthy to be called your son”; but he will say to his servants, “Bring out the best robe, and put it on him; put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.” You hope that there will be gladness when you are restored, but you have no idea of the music and the dancing which will flood even heaven itself with rejoicing. You faintly hope that God will love you, but you have no idea how much; nor what great things his love will do for you. The half has never been told to you by the most faithful witness for God. Those who have experienced most of the divine love have never been able to communicate to you any idea of what that love is. God’s thoughts are above your thoughts as much as the heavens are above the earth. Come, then, to him. Infinite grace awaits you, a tender reception, a perfect cleansing, a divine adorning, eternal security, endless bliss shall all be yours! Why do you linger? The life of God shall be in you, and the joy of Christ shall fill you to the full. If this does not encourage men to repent, what can?
23. III. And now let us touch upon the third point, which is this, EXPECTATION AROUSED.
24. I said I was going to keep to the connection of the text, and so I will; but this time the link is forward instead of backward. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For” — you see there is the link word “for” to join our text to what follows, “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and does not return there, but waters the earth, and makes it fruitful and bud, so that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater. So shall my word be.” Now, if you listen to the Lord and take his thoughts to be your thoughts, and earnestly pray to him to make his ways to be your ways, from this time on and for ever, you may justly indulge the highest expectations, and they shall be exceeded. This chapter tells you what to expect.
25. First, you are to expect that the Lord’s word will be unfailing to you. What is this “word?” You see we have had “thought” and “way,” and now we come to “word.” God’s word is his thoughts spoken, and God’s word is also his ways, for “He speaks and it is done, he commands and it stands firm.” His “word” is “thought” and “way” put together. Now that “word” of his shall never be broken to you. Poor sinner, forsake your ways, forsake your thoughts, and come and trust in God, and his word shall be like himself, immutable, eternal, infallible, and full of boundless blessing for you. It shall be powerful to bless you, mighty to enrich you; it shall be like rain and snow, which do not go back to heaven, but sink into the earth to make it fruitful and bud. From that day forward, when you are reconciled to God, you may take any promise you find in the word and say, “Lord, fulfil this word for your servant in which you have caused me to hope,” and it shall be so. Come and trust him, and promises which now appear above you, and far too rich for such a poor worm as you are, shall all be fulfilled for you; they shall come down upon your soul like gentle showers, and make you full of gladness. Such is the fulness of its power that you shall be able to respond to God’s word by a holy and gracious life, and your soul, barren as it now is, shall be made to be fruitful and bud. That is one blessed thing which you may confidently expect, for you are coming to a God of great ways and thoughts.
26. The next is that you are returning to a God whose ways are so much above your ways, and his thoughts so much above your thoughts, that your heart shall be filled with joy — “you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace.” God will not merely break off your chains and say in cold accents, “You are free”; but he will release you amid the music of the spheres; and angels shall lead you out in peace, and your tongue shall sing, “I am forgiven! I am forgiven! I am accepted! I am redeemed! Behold, now I go out of my captivity with joy, and God’s angels lead me out with peace.” Who would not be a penitent if such things may be expected from the sublime grandeur of the goodness of God?
27. Next to this, all your surroundings shall minister to your gladness. “The mountains and the hills shall break out before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” In your journey through life mountains have so far been hard to climb, and tangled and dark forests have been your dread; but now so greatly good is God to those whose ways become his ways, that the mountain which you feared shall break out into song, and the forest at which you trembled shall become an orchestra in which every tree shall clap its hands for joy. You do not know what awaits coming sinners. You who are willing to hear that your soul may live, — you who are willing to accept the covenant which God made with great David’s greater son — you shall see the whole world robed in the garments of praise, and your heart shall be so filled with gladness that it shall overflow and flood all nature with joy.
28. And then there shall happen to you wonderful transformations. Because God’s ways are above your ways, he will do what you never thought could be done; the thorns shall be transmuted into fir trees, and the briers into myrtles. There shall be a change in you, such a wonderful change, that all things shall become new. There shall be a change in all that concerns you; the Bible shall become a treasure and the Sabbath a delight, the mercy seat a loved resort and the path of obedience a way of pleasantness. Sin shall be uprooted and virtue shall be implanted. Evil habits shall be withered and holy principles shall be nourished. You do not know, and you cannot guess, what honour, pleasure, dignity, and glory it is to be in Christ. You who have never come to God cannot conceive the bliss of life with God by Jesus Christ. As a deaf man can have no notion of music, as a man born blind can have no conception of the splendour of the rainbow, so you deaf and blind, you do not know what the Christian life is for excellence and happiness, but you may guess that it is surpassingly delightful when you hear that as high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are the Lord’s ways above our ways.
29. Last of all, this mercy is to endure for ever. Man’s thoughts are for a time, and his ways only for a season; God is eternal: when he thinks his thoughts endure for ever, and when he acts his ways are everlasting. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance — he never changes his mind. Perhaps you think that salvation is a thing to be found and lost, to be gained and forfeited, to be enjoyed today and deplored tomorrow, and truly there are some who tell us so; but the word of the Lord does not speak so, for it is written, “It shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” Once come and walk in the ways of God, and his grace will keep you in them, and you shall find a growing delight in them. Once come and learn the thoughts of God, and surrender intellect and heart entirely to his supremacy, and if it is a sincere surrender his Holy Spirit will henceforth guide your thinkings and direct your believings, so that you shall continue steadfast in his fear, and your path shall be that of the just, which shines more and more to the perfect day.
30. Oh, who would not yield to such a God as our God, whose goodness excels our greatest desires? If I were engaged upon the wretched errand of charging you to submit to a remorseless tyrant who would never forgive, my message would be hard to deliver; but because Jesus the Son of God has died, and by his death has expiated sin, we are authorised and empowered to cry in the name of God, “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.”
31. If all this should seem to
be too good to be true, as often it has been, — if the
sinner should feel unable to believe that he can obtain
immediate forgiveness for a long life of transgression,
we are then commanded to tell you that you must not
measure God by yourself, nor calculate what he can do by
what your fellow man can perform. The Lord can forgive
what otherwise could never be forgiven. He can pour out
mercies so multiplied as to baffle human arithmetic. He
can bless you beyond your desire. He can delight you
beyond a dream, and he can finally give you a heaven
which “eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has
entered into the heart of man.” Accept him, soul, at
once, while yet in the person of the Lord Jesus he
commands your faith. Do not go around by good works and
prayers and tears to obtain forgiveness; do not spend
your money on what is not bread, but come, penniless and
poor as you are, and buy the wine and milk of covenant
blessing, without money and without price. Lend the
willing ear and yield the believing heart. “Hear, and
your soul shall live”; believe, and you shall be saved.
Through Jesus Christ we proclaim the good news, and for
his sake we implore a blessing upon it. Amen.
[Portion Of Scripture Read Before Sermon — Isa 55]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 36”
36 @@ "(Version 1)"]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “Spirit of the Psalms — Psalm 103”
103]
[See Spurgeon_Hymnal “God the Father, Attributes of God
— A Pardoning God” 202]
Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 36 (Song 1)
1 High in the heaven, Eternal God,
Thy goodness in full glory shines;
Thy truth shall break through every cloud
That veils and darkens thy designs.
2 For ever firm thy justice stands,
As mountains their foundations keep;
Wise are the wonders of thy hands;
Thy judgments are a mighty deep.
3 Thy providence is kind and large,
Both man and beast thy bounty share;
The whole creation is thy charge,
But saints are thy peculiar care.
4 My God! how excellent thy grace,
Whence all our hope and comfort springs;
The sons of Adam, in distress,
Fly to the shadow of thy wings.
Isaac Watts, 1719.
Psalm 36 (Song 2)
1 Above these heavens’ created rounds,
Thy mercies, Lord, extend;
Thy truth outlives the narrow bounds
Where time and nature end.
2 From thee, when creature streams run low,
And mortal comforts die,
Perpetual springs of life shall flow,
And raise our pleasures high.
3 Though all created light decay,
And death close up our eyes,
Thy presence makes eternal day,
Where clouds can never rise.
Isaac Watts, 1719.
Spirit of the Psalms
Psalm 103 (Version 1)
1 My soul, repeat his praise,
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
2 God will not always chide;
And when his strokes are felt,
His strokes are fewer than our crimes,
And lighter than our guilt.
3 High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thought exceed.
4 His power subdues our sins;
And his forgiving love,
Far as the east is from the west,
Doth all our guilt remove.
5 The pity of the Lord,
To those that fear his name,
Far as the east is from the west,
He knows our feeble frame.
6 He knows we but dust,
Scatter’d with every breath;
His anger, like a rising wind,
Can send us swift to death.
7 Our days are as the grass,
Or like the morning flower;
If one sharp blast sweep o’er the field,
It withers in an hour.
8 But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children’s children ever find,
Thy words of promise sure.
Isaac Watts, 1719.
Psalm 103 (Version 2)
1 Oh bless the Lord, my soul!
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless his name,
Whose favours are divine.
2 Oh, bless the Lord, my soul,
Nor let his mercies lie
Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die.
3 ‘Tis he forgives thy sins;
‘Tis he relieves thy pain;
‘Tis he that heals thy sicknesses,
And makes thee young again.
4 He crowns thy life with love,
When ransom’d from the grave;
He that redeem’d my soul from hell
Hath sovereign power to save.
5 He fills the poor with good,
He gives the sufferers rest;
The Lord hath judgments for the proud,
And justice for the oppress’d
6 His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known;
But sent the world his truth and grace
By his beloved Son.
Isaac Watts, 1719.
Psalm 103 (Version 3)
<8.7.4. />
1 Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To his feet thy tribute bring!
Ransom’d, heal’d, restored, forgiven,
Who like me his praise should sing!
Praise him! praise him,
Praise him! praise him,
Praise the everlasting King!
2 Praise him for his grace and favour
To our fathers in distress!
Praise him still the same as ever,
Slow to chide and swift to bless!
Praise him! praise him,
Praise him! praise him
Glorious in his faithfulness!
3 Father-like he tends and spares us,
Well our feeble frame he knows;
In his hands he gently bears us,
Rescues us from all our foes.
Praise him! praise him,
Praise him! praise him,
Widely as his mercy flows.
4 Frail as summer’s flower we flourish;
Blows the wind, and it is gone;
But while mortals rise and perish,
God endures unchanging on.
Praise him! praise him,
Praise him! praise him,
Praise the High Eternal One.
5 Angels, help us to adore him;
Ye behold him face to face;
Sun and moon bow down before him,
Dwellers all in time and space.
Praise him! praise him,
Praise him! praise him,
Praise with us the God of grace!
Henry Francis Lyte, 1834.
God the Father, Attributes of God
202 — A Pardoning God <112TH. />
1 Great God of wonders! all thy ways
Are matchless, God-like, and divine;
But the fair glories of thy grace
More God-like and unrivall’d shine:
Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
2 Crimes of such horror to forgive,
Such guilty, daring worms to spare;
This is thy grand prerogative,
And none shall in the honour share:
Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
3 In wonder lost, with trembling joy
We take the pardon of our God;
Pardon for crimes of deepest dye;
A pardon bought with Jesus’ blood:
Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
4 Oh may this strange, this matchless grace
This God-like miracle of love,
Fill the wide earth with grateful praise,
And all th’ angelic choirs above:
Who is a pardoning God like thee?
Or who has grace so rich and free?
President Davies, 1769.
http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2014/02/21/gods-thoughts-and-ways-far-above-ours