My thoughts are not your thoughts, (ii) (Quality: very good)

[0:00] As the Lord may be pleased to help me again, I'll direct your attention to Isaiah 55, reading verse 8.

[0:18] Isaiah 55, verse 8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

[0:45] We might approach this word by saying, what have you been thinking? And what are you thinking at this time?

[0:59] You know, oft times we spend a lot of time thinking about things that do not matter.

[1:11] Or we think over matters in a vain turn of mind. But oh, because we may say, I have thought the matter through, I thought things over very, very carefully.

[1:32] And therefore I have come to this decision. Yet, my friend, God might say to you, even now my thoughts are not your thoughts.

[1:48] And neither are my ways your ways. We may have thought the way out, how it shall come to pass.

[2:00] But my friend, if God has indeed a way for us to walk in, we can rest assured of this, ill order it by his word, and by the power of his word.

[2:16] But who is it that can say, it shall come to pass, when the Lord has not indeed approved of it, and has not agreed to it, and has said, my thoughts are not your thoughts.

[2:36] He may not be speaking to you in anger, but rather in love. My friend, how the Lord is our God of love, and ever provides the best for us.

[2:55] And so he says, in that voice of gentleness, and tenderness to us, no, this is not the way.

[3:05] My thoughts are not your thoughts. He says, I cannot walk with you. In such a way as that.

[3:17] Can you bear the thought of being found in a way, doing a thing that God has not approved of, and will never, never give you encouragement and help in it.

[3:34] My thoughts are not your thoughts. We have a proverb, haven't we? It's somewhat foolish. There's none so blind as those that won't see.

[3:51] Ah, my friend. But there's a lot of truth in it. Such is our depravity. Such is the determination of our mind.

[4:03] We may be determined to do exactly what God has said we shall not do. Oh, when Balaam was determined to gain money by cursing Israel for Balak, he just would not hearken.

[4:26] He would not hear. He would not obey. And so, the Lord indeed, speak so wonderfully to him, even through an ass.

[4:43] Yes, we find him smiting the ass, because the ass would not go. My friend, it may be this. The Lord is speaking to us through forces of circumstance, because we have not listened previously.

[5:08] Great mercy, isn't it, that God does keep us and preserve us, in spite of all our thoughts and filings.

[5:20] and said, my thoughts are not your thoughts. But I do want to just speak of these words, first of all, in reference to the previous verse, verse 7, that he calls upon the assemblies of his people.

[5:44] He said, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. And let him return unto the Lord.

[6:00] He doesn't flatter the assemblies of his people. He ever speaks to them straight and honest. And he said, Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts.

[6:18] Now, if our ways are directly against God's ways, and are opposed to God's ways, indeed, they are wicked ways.

[6:30] Yes, we must never forget that. And the Lord God will punish the wicked. He will bring judgment upon them.

[6:43] And the unrighteous man his thoughts. Friends, it's a solemn thing to be in possession and guilty of unrighteous thoughts.

[6:55] And if we're honest before God, I'm sure we have to go to him in secret, and thus to confess our unrighteous thoughts.

[7:10] Unrighteous, that which is sinful, that which is unacceptable in his sight. I say, he said, let the unrighteous man move off.

[7:27] Those thoughts, if brought to fruition, brought about, or causes pain and trouble, oh, guilt before almighty God.

[7:40] No, but this is what he says. Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him.

[7:54] There is, it can never be said that the obstacle in returning to the Lord is of the Lord's doing. It's not.

[8:05] It's all about, all about undoing. Oh, my thoughts are not your thoughts. Our men love to justify themselves by blaming God for everything.

[8:22] He said, let the wicked, let him return unto the Lord. And how can we return unto the Lord?

[8:34] Surely it means this. In returning to the Lord, where we are, and I would say, yes, even now.

[8:48] Returning to the Lord in our thoughts, returning to him in our way. Whereas, we have forsaken the right way, it hasn't been our practice to commit our way to God.

[9:05] He says, no, let him return. yes, even now, that he might return unto God. My friend, God doesn't say to us anywhere in Scripture, well, you'll have to wait a certain while till either appease mine anger in causing you pain.

[9:32] it doesn't say that. It says, let him return unto the Lord. My thoughts are not your thoughts. I say, we can never blame God for hindrances, generous speaking, or the hindrances that we find are within us and about us.

[10:00] Hindrances that we have built for ourselves. Return unto the Lord. O Lord, remove these hindrances, break down these barriers.

[10:17] Lord, take away this rotten spirit that is within me. Give me a heart indeed to repent that is not to be repented of.

[10:32] Give me a heart indeed to pour rox coals of fire upon my enemy's head in so loving him and meeting his every need.

[10:51] He said, he will have mercy upon him. you know, there are some things in our life that we can rest assured of that we have God's approval for.

[11:09] Let us return unto the Lord. He has never, never turned a poor sinner back that does return unto him.

[11:24] Out of the depths cried I, said one. I say, do you know what it is to cry out of the depths unto the Lord?

[11:38] Yes, that is returning unto him that is seeking his face. But oh, what a solemn thing it is to be in the depths and when our heart is as hard as stone and so adamant against the Lord's mind and will.

[12:01] My friend, God does wait, does he not, that he might be gracious. And in the meanwhile he does not order and change his word one little bit.

[12:17] No, it's always the same. Let him return unto the Lord, he will have mercy upon him.

[12:28] For these are the thoughts of the Lord and not the thoughts of man. Well, we may be saying in our heart, but what will other people say or think?

[12:44] Why? He's climbed down, he's proved weak, he's proved insufficiency, he's had to come after crawling to man.

[12:55] Ah, not so, my friend. God never seeks us to go crawling to man, but he'll cause you to come unto him and he will have mercy upon you.

[13:15] Do you know what it is to be in dire trouble? And because of the hardness of our heart, that I was speaking of this morning, determine not to go to God.

[13:31] But it's true, isn't it? we seem the last one we go to is the very one that we can be assured of that will help us return unto the Lord.

[13:49] He will have mercy upon him and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. solemn thing, isn't it, to be in that place of conviction where we know that we have sinned and done wrong.

[14:12] Yet, my friend, he says return and he will have mercy upon him. Ah, my friend, how different God is from man.

[14:25] Man is apt to say, oh, it is his own fault and let him suffer for it. He's given it to others, let him taste of it himself and so on.

[14:37] But that spirit is not in God. Though we have sinned against him, he is surely sad, he will abundantly pardon.

[14:51] That's a wonderful word, isn't it? Pardon, forgiven, no more sin as such laid to your account.

[15:05] Pardon, they can only be pardoned through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. And oh, has not Satan often joined in here and said, oh yes, but you know what you are, you know what you've done, you know what you've been, you can't expect pardon all the way, can you?

[15:32] We can, my friends, because God's word says so, he will abundantly pardon. I love those words, and I believe I spoke about it quite recently, for sins to come, there's pardon to, abundantly pardon.

[15:55] We know this, that if there's abundance of a thing, there's no scarcity, it was not a question of running out, is it?

[16:07] no, abundantly pardon. Like Jesus at the marriage feast, and they run out of wine, when Jesus supplied, there was abundance, all sufficient, not sub quality either, sub standard, no, not a poor quality, but a good, my friend, abundance, all God's provision, his salvation, is good, and it is indeed, not sub standard, in any way at all, or a sufficiency, that is found in Jesus Christ, and him alone, my thoughts, are not your thoughts, he doesn't say, oh well, this will do, do, do, do, have to make do with this, not so, my friend, he abundantly pardons, the blood of the

[17:15] Lord, Jesus Christ, he cleansed us, from all sin, all sin, oh, I say, the abundance, of the love of Christ, of returning to him, friend, he leads them ever to the same place, to that fountain opened, for sin, and for uncleanness, for he will abundantly pardon, he doesn't abundantly pardon, on our terms, and our conditions, he doesn't abundantly pardon, by rules and regulations that we, or any man, lays down, he requires, my friend, for sinners to come to him, that is, in spirit, in heart, they come to him, as he calls them, and draws them, by his irresistible grace, why, who can work all this out, and truly understand it, it is beyond human understanding, is that I cannot understand it, how can it be, friend, the Lord leaves us to understand, as much as it's needful to understand, there are things that shall be understood, that are reserved for heaven, or when we consider eternity, then indeed how much there will be known, and understood there, if thus the

[19:17] Lord causes you and I to rejoice, in his, the abundance of his love, here below, how great must that rejoicing be, of the saints in heaven, where there is nothing indeed between, no veil, no cloud, no mysterious situation, friend, my thoughts are not your thoughts, friends, God did not send his dear son in vain, and I want to come now to those two lines of teaching that are absolutely opposed to one another, one is the teaching of free will, the other is of free and sovereign grace, first of all, to this unprofitable teaching of free will, that is, that men believe they have it in their right and power to do with God as they, as he, whatever they will do to him, they have believed it in their power, yea, to come to God and so advise souls to come in their own strength and thus they compel

[21:01] God to pardon and forgive them. Well, if that be really so, and these are their own free will, which is a will that is depraved, a will that is at enmity to God, that hates him, does not like him, does not like his rules, his regulations, that tells us what we can and what we cannot do, then, my friend, who would come and accept salvation, as they call it, of their own free will?

[21:43] you know what it would mean? It would mean that Christ Jesus, when he came into this world to suffer bleed and die, that he came in vain, because nobody wanted to accept him, nobody would indeed receive him, as in the truth, therefore, I say, he would have come in vain, but my thoughts are not your thoughts, my friend, our God doesn't do anything in vain, so I'll leave this awful teaching of man's free will, and turn to the teaching of God, and that is, salvation is of grace, grace, now what is grace?

[22:43] Grace is the unmerited favour of almighty God, let me explain that, the favour of almighty God, that you do not have to do anything for, you know what it is, at school you get merit marks, on what you have done, what you have produced, but the grace of God is not given like that, is it?

[23:18] It is his favour to us as poor and needy sinners, my thoughts are not yours, yours.

[23:29] One of our hymn writers puts it like this, he saw me ruined in the fall, and loved me, notwithstanding all, he saw me in my lost estate, his loving kindness, oh how great, his free and sovereign grace, my thoughts are not your thoughts, free will I turn back to, it would rest and it would rely upon you, never, never, to fail, and what do you think of that?

[24:16] Can you go forward, can you look to the future as serving God in your own strength and your ability and the provision is as long as you never fail, and I'm sure of this, if you're honest, although perhaps even not believing, you'll have to say, I can't guarantee that, so therefore in your theory of salvation, of your own free will, it's something you cannot guarantee, you cannot rely upon, because it rests on self, but blessed be his name, his free and sovereign grace is just the opposite to that, it rests, it relies upon, almighty God, and he says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways, indeed, ah, we may well have come to this point, and say,

[25:25] I've given up, yes, I've sinned against God, and therefore there's no hope for me, friend, but his sovereign grace, it does not work like that, he said, I will work, and who shall let it, therefore, though he may empty you out, yes, and clean your vessel dry, ah, that he might fill it again, with his wondrous love and mercy, my thoughts are not your thoughts, oh, I say, his glorious thoughts, of his free and sovereign grace, how vast, how full they are, now may the Lord help me to come along a little further, and he gives, he gives an illustration of his regards,

[26:34] God's thoughts compared with our thoughts, we may compare our thoughts to other people's thoughts, thoughts, we may think they're much better thinkers than we are, we are much deeper thinkers than they are, and therefore we or they may be more reliable than the other, but my friend, God, he heaps all the lot together, and puts him indeed one heap, and says, these thoughts, the thoughts of man, they're not my thoughts, my thoughts are so much greater, my thoughts are so much perfect, for he goes on to say, for as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not dither, but waters the earth, and mighteth it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater,

[27:50] I'm sure that most of us here, will understand this verse, that all God, what happens when the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, it serves a purpose, according to God's creation, salvation, now we might say, but surely if the rain keeps coming down, one of these days, it will run out, and it will never, it won't be able to serve its purpose, that's not so, the word before us here says, and returneth not dither, in other, it doesn't return in the same way as it came down, but we know, through God's thoughts and wisdom, there is that perfect circulation of water, through being drawn up into vapour by the sun, and the cooling that causes condensation, it brings the rain, wonderful thought of

[29:04] God, so he would say to his church and people, oh, if my thoughts indeed are so great, and are able to continuously supply nature in such a way as this, am not I able to continuously supply your every need, friend, we're talking about a God of love, and a God of mercy, friend, my thoughts are not your thoughts, but remember this, in the end, God will have his why, in the whirlwind, and in the storm, he'll have his why in as much as he has his way in creation, that he is able to water creation effectively, and just think indeed, how much nature needs to rain from heaven, when you think of it worldwide,

[30:14] God is able to provide the need of his people, so I say the whole church of God, is able to provide for their need, and when I speak of the church of God, I'm referring to those who God's infinite mercy are brought to understand, not just in the head, but in the heart, the truth of his free and sovereign grace.

[30:53] has spoken much of late with regards to salvation, it hangs and depends upon the love of God, the love of Christ, and the love of the Holy Spirit, to you poor sinner, take away his love, and there is no hope for us, wondrous love, wondrous mercy, friend, or because he so loved his people, he would provide for the ever returning need, for he goes on, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, it will not come back without anything, it won't be void, it will be profitable, it will be indeed to God's honour and glory, but it shall accomplish that which

[32:09] I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it, my thoughts are not your thoughts, yes, it will not return unto him void, how often it may seem to be a long waiting time, but remember with God and speaking of waiting, one year is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, God is never early, he is never late, my thoughts are not your thoughts, he always comes at his appointed time, which he has designed, designed that he will ever obtain maximum honour and glory, and do you object at that?

[33:19] It won't be at your cost, it will be at his, and his alone, he will indeed obtain maximum glory, for his great namesake, and surely if the Lord has brought you to love him, to seek his face, as you never had before, you'll say, oh too, I would join in that song, I would do desire to give to him all the honour, all the praise, and all the glory, my thoughts are not your thoughts, and who would have thought this, when we see a rebel made a child, how good it is to read the history of God's dealings with the apostle Paul, my friend, it is he that makes a rebel a child, it is good indeed to read the history of God's dealings with the apostle Peter, two different characters, but friend, they were made willing by the power of his grace, he said,

[34:49] I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy face fail not, my thoughts are not your thoughts, Peter, what are your thoughts in this matter, they were proud thoughts, were they not, proud thoughts, yes, you and I have proud thoughts too, don't we, and proud thoughts must be removed, proud thoughts must be proved, that they are vain, God's thought indeed, my friend, was not to so bring down Peter, to make him an example whereby he is so ashamed, indeed, and embarrassed, no, he thought for this, I have prayed for thee, that thy face fail not, friend, how, as one goes on in life's journey, oh, we have to cry to God to pray for me too, that my face fail not, the trial of your face, says

[36:11] Peter, is more precious than a gold that perishes, this, but friends, when we see our face in the fire and all the rubbish being burnt up, you say, I wonder if I shall have any religion left at all, my thoughts are not your thoughts, it's God's thoughts indeed to lead his people in the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation, my thoughts are not your thoughts, or if we could stand where we are and look back, what would we have said to our position today, a few years back or so, we have said I never thought of it, or I would never allow it, or indeed I would never imagined it could happen unto me, but my friend,

[37:16] God knew indeed what would happen to Peter, God knew indeed what would happen to you, my thoughts are not your thoughts, we may be certainly deeply concerned, and say but surely, why do I pass through such a pathway as I do, other people do not have these things, true, but nevertheless it must be the best pathway for us, happiness, I'm sure of this, it is strewn with happiness, it is indeed strewn with God's appearing and his teaching, which others may not have known either, and more than that, we know not what other people are suffering and enduring, it is very true, you have to wear the shoe to know where it pinches, it is

[38:29] I'm not wearing your shoes, you're not wearing my shoes, but remember this, God knows where things pinch and hurt in your life, my thoughts are not your thoughts, blessed be his name, if those things come within our life, to bring us closer unto him, my thoughts are not your thoughts, man's design and instinct is to get away from trouble and to get out of trouble, but as in the Job we read, as the sparks fly upward, so man is born to trouble, and if there was ever a man that knew that, well that was Job, just look at Job, at the beginning of the book of

[39:36] Job, here he was sitting in a very comfortable position, a very rich man, he hadn't got troubles, perhaps as other men had, he was a godly man, and Satan's eye was upon him, you turn over a few chapters, and the poor man is bathed in troubles, and what's more, those that were his friends did not understand his situation, we need to remember that, my thoughts are not your thoughts, he separates us indeed sometimes, from those that we have previously relied upon, that you may wholly rely upon the Lord Jesus Christ, that he might say to you, will you serve me or no, will you hearken unto me, will you walk in my ways, and in my commandments, my thoughts are not your thoughts, some might say but I am too old,

[40:54] I am too old now, you can't expect it of me now, I know I should have done so long ago, but now returning unto God and even in the even tide of life, my thoughts are not your thoughts, he treats the young and the old alike, there may be some here this afternoon, who say but I am too young, I'm only but a child, I'm only just growing out from childhood into womanhood and manhood, my friend, he said, my thoughts are not your thoughts, I do not give you a place and room to argue, it is I that have worked in your heart and in your spirit and cause you to walk in the way that I will have you walk and that is to fear God, oh good

[41:58] Job says, he knoweth the way that I take and when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold, my friend, men who purify gold, gold, they're not fools, they're not silly people, they're well trained people because they are dealing with a very valuable substance and they, it would be disastrous for them to destroy it.

[42:35] If you said to a goldsmith, why are you doing this or why are you doing that, he'd give you a good reason why, he understands the trade, but when my friend, God is dealing with never dying souls, I don't call that a trade, no indeed not, he says my thoughts are not your thoughts, his thought was this, that souls are so precious, more precious than of gold, because they are bought by his precious blood, they are redeemed of him, that he might bring them home to glory at last, my thoughts are not your thoughts, does he not teach us by the mouth of Jeremiah, or he has teached Jeremiah also, he took him down to the potter's shed, that he might teach him there, and the clay was marred in the hands of the potter, ah my friend, there's just one difference isn't there, the clay that is never marred in God's hand, it is he that makes the clay unmarrable, it is he that takes out that which mars it, that he might work the work after his own will and purpose, and we as worthless clay it should fall to fashion to believe and trust in Jesus that we may be vessels to his honour and to his glory, and to his glory, well as you see, this wonderful chapter is full of instruction but the master, the key thought to it is for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the

[44:51] Lord, but listen, he will have the last word in the matter, for what does verse 12 and 13 say to me, and what does it say to you, for ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace, the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you, into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands, that is, God's thoughts, bringing all things, to his honour and glory, bringing deliverance, deliverance surely is the master word, and what follows deliverance, instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree, in other words, where thorns were before, there should be profitable vegetation, and where the briars dwelt, smothered the oars, and only fit for burning, he raises up the myrtle tree, that we shall be to his honour, and to his glory, blessed change, wondrous thoughts of

[46:18] God, thoughts of mercy, and of peace, to bring you to your expected end, amen, amen, and you to bo