Dr Greg Bahnsen - Higher Thoughts: The Wonders of God's Grace (Part 6)

To begin our second to last lecture in the summer evening series on Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9, we have called it Higher Thoughts A Theological exposition of Isaiah 55:8,9. I believe that when we get around to putting this into a tape series, we'll probably call it something like Mystery, Wonder and Awe A Theological exposition of Isaiah 55. I'm not sure Higher Thoughts will communicate what it needs to to a lot of people. Let's turn in our Bibles again to the 55th chapter of Isaiah. I want to read the entire chapter as we have been doing, but especially tonight, because we're going to be looking at the literary art of Isaiah and what specifically Isaiah is focusing on in terms of the wonder and awe of God's Word. You may have figured it out already, but if you haven't, think about it tonight as we read this. Why specifically did Isaiah use this language of God's thoughts being higher than our thoughts? Beginning at verse one, Hear now God's own Ho everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money? For that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfies not. Hearken diligently unto me, and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. 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 Behold, I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander to the peoples. Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and a nation that knew not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye Jehovah while he may be found call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto Jehovah, 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, saith Jehovah. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth in bud, and giveth it seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. 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. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree. And it shall be to Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. And thus far, the reading of God's Word. In our series up to this point, we've looked at various ways, if I can kind of summarize and give the common thread to everything now. We've looked at various ways that God's thoughts are different from our thoughts, how God's thoughts are wondrous and mysterious and beyond understanding, unexpected. The way in which he doesn't think, the way we think. And so we had a lecture on the transcendence of God, the way in which God goes beyond temporal experience. God is the sovereign Creator, and for that reason he is completely different from this world and yet can come right into this world, clearly showing Himself in His revelation, in His Word, in His Son, in His Spirit, the transcendence of God. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts because he transcends creation. And then we looked at theological rationalism and how that has to be precluded, given this understanding of God, that human reason cannot be taken as a standard for ultimate philosophical commitments or theological commitments, that human reason must be a tool used under God. And when we do that, then we won't be tempted, as many theological rationalists have been, to reject something, say, like the Trinity just because it's difficult to understand, or the sovereignty of God with human responsibility because it's difficult to understand. And we have a different view of apologetics for this reason. We don't think that reason is the ultimate authority in apologetics either. We believe that reason is a tool and that we must use it to show that if people will not submit to God, they will not be able to reason at all. Thirdly, we looked at the incomprehensibility of God, the sense in which God's thoughts are quantitatively greater than ours. We'll never be able to comprehend all that God knows, but even more that God's thoughts have a qualitative difference about them. They're categorically different. They're in a different league altogether, if you want to use that idiom. Because his thoughts constitute the ultimate standard for all thinking, whereas my thoughts are never the ultimate standard. His thoughts are creative. What God thinks makes things the way they are. My thinking is always just receptive of how God has created and governed things. And finally, when it comes to God's thoughts, the more we know about God, the greater the awe is. As we stand before him, the awe increases the more we know about Him. Unlike the more I know about one of you or your thoughts, then the awe decreases. So there's this mysterious kind of relationship because of the incomprehensibility of God. In the next lesson, we distinguish mystery from mysticism. And I argued that Christianity is not a mystical religion. It does not call for the slaughtering or sacrificing of the human intellect. Even though we subordinate reason to the word of God and the sovereignty of God, we do not believe in contradictions. We do not want to throw rationality out the window. Nor is our goal somehow emotionally to be fused with God. But rather we teach not a mystical approach to theology, but that there is mystery. There are wondrous secrets, as it were, that are not contrary to reason, but above reason and beyond our expectation. God shows us that which is surprising and in many ways ineffably great, unspeakably great. In fact. The very gospel itself is called the Mystery of God. In the Bible, these mysteries are not contrary to understanding, remember, they rather go beyond understanding. Then last week, I turned to a couple of the attributes of God to show how they too express his transcendence. One, his holiness, and two, his wisdom. God is unlike our feelings. God does things in a way that we wouldn't have thought through. We look at the holiness of God and how that holiness is revealed in his law. We realize we cannot judge his law by our own feelings and desires. It isn't reasonable to say, well, God says, do this, don't do that. But boy, that seems radical or extreme. In our day and age, no one else sees it that way. But the holiness of God would lead you to expect God to be set apart and different. And because of our sin, of course, there is that discrepancy. The holiness of God shows us in ethics how God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts. His ways are higher than our ways as well. The wisdom of God, the way in which he governs creation and the events of history and even the very events of our lives, we have to acknowledge that he doesn't do things the way we would do them. Many things have happened in my life that I wish would not have happened. And yet I have to say that God is wise. He knows what is best. It's not always easy to confess that, and it's a failure of my sanctification when I hesitate to do so. But in the wisdom of God, I see that he doesn't do things in the way that I would think. And yet the Bible says he does things so much better that in the end, in an amazing way, things work out for his glory and my goodness through his wisdom. And so I need to learn to emulate that. The Book of Proverbs is a good place where we learn how to live in this world as God would have us live in this world with wisdom. Now, tonight we're going to come to the grace of God. And then, Lord willing, in a week we'll have our last lecture on the powerful Word of God. The reason I want to talk about the grace of God and the powerful word of God, well, there's two reasons. One, because these are the two things Isaiah focuses on. I don't believe that I've simply used the text of Isaiah as a pretext for my theology. I believe that everything I've said is connected to what Isaiah is saying and to the theological presuppositions, what he's saying. But Isaiah does have a specific focus for why he talks about God's thoughts being higher than our thoughts. And I want us to see that. Tonight we're going to look at the grace of God and. And that fits into our theme. I've said we've looked at how God's thoughts are different from ours. They are wondrous, they're mysterious, they're unexpected. And I don't think you can see that more clearly than in the doctrine of salvation by grace. Boy, God does things different than we would. And so there we see how his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. And then next week we'll see how fantastic the power of His Word is. How what we think is possible in history is quite different than when God tells us he intends to do so. Let's turn to Isaiah 55 then, as we have our specific lesson tonight on the wonder of God's grace. And I want to focus on this expression in verse nine. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. There is this idiom of God's thoughts and God's ways being higher than the earth. And I'm wondering, have you Ever seen that kind of expression in the Bible? Are you aware of the fact that that is a common idiom in the Old Testament for talking about God, that there are things about God which are higher than the earth? Sometimes it's expressed in the form of in the heavens, meaning higher than the earth. But whichever linguistic idiom is used, the concept is the same, that God is higher than our life and our lifestyle and our way of doing things. And I'm going to just give you a real quick run through of the way in which the Bible uses that, just so it gets impacted on you that Isaiah is picking up a common Old Testament idiom here. Here in Isaiah 55:9 we see that God's ways and God's thoughts are higher than the earth. But let's turn Back to Psalm 103. 11. We're going to run through a lot of passages tonight, so we need nimble fingers. Psalm 103:11 for as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward them that fear him. You see, the same image is used. There is something which is above the earth, according to the psalmist, something which goes beyond earthly expectation, earthly ways of doing things, and it's the loving kindness of God. Specifically, verses 8 to 12 of this Psalm have emphasized how merciful God is and how he removes our guilt and doesn't treat us according to to our sins. Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in lovingkindness. He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us after our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his loving kindness toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Now, as you see God described here, I hope one that your heart kind of leaps with joy to think this is the way he treats you. But now ask this too. Is this the way you ordinarily think? Is this the way you treat other people? Is this what comes natural to us? Are we people who, like God, are merciful and gracious? Are we slow to anger? Are we abundant in loving kindness toward those who are rebellious against us, those who despise us and mistreat us? God doesn't always chide. He doesn't keep his anger forever, and he doesn't deal with us after our sins. I am sorry to admit, of course, the fact that I'm admitting it in this Way, I think, indicates that I want to turn from it too. I know that it's wrong, but I know that in my own heart of hearts, if I were God, I wouldn't be like that. I wouldn't be slow to anger. I would chide. I am sure that I would say, now there's going to have to be some measure according to your sin. Somehow God is able not to do that. And yet he is more just and holy than I am. Do you see the amazing part of that? That's why the psalmist says his loving kindness is like the heavens, higher than the earth. This is not some kind of sophisticated philosophical or theological expression. This is just a down, well, pardon the contrast and wording. It's a down to earth, if you will, day to day kind of expression. It's like it goes beyond our living, goes beyond our way of doing things. It's in the heavens. God's loving kindness is above the earth, because he treats us this way. Turn to Psalm 36:5. Thy loving kindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens. Thy faithfulness reaches unto the skies. This whole world you see, if God's faithfulness were laid down, it would pile up as it were, higher than the skies. Your faithfulness reaches from earth into the heavens. It is so great. Thy loving kindness, O Jehovah, is in the heavens. And here it refers to how he protects his people and makes provision. How precious is thy loving kindness, O God and the children of men take refuge under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house. And thou wilt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life. In thy light shall we see light. O, continue thy loving kindness unto them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart. Here you have a God who protects, a God who makes provision, because he is a loving God, a merciful God, and a faithful God. The psalmist says, your faithfulness is under the skies, your loving kindness is in the heavens. Turn to Psalm 57, verses 10 and 11, where we see three of the attributes of God, spoken of as being in the heavens or above the earth. Psalm 57:10. For thy loving kindness is great unto the heavens, and thy truth unto the skies. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. We've seen that God's loving kindness is in the heavens. We've seen that his faithfulness is in the heavens. Here it's the loving kindness, the truth, the steadfastness the fidelity of God, and now his glory, which are said to be in the heavens. Verse 5 also mentioned his glory Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the earth. The glory of God, you see, is magnificent. It's more than we can imagine. And this is a psalm again about the mercy of God. Verse 1. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me, for my soul takes refuge in thee yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I take refuge until these calamities be overpassed. Apparently, when biblical writers, the psalmist in particular, think about the mercy of God, the faithfulness of God to his promise, his truthfulness and his glory, it naturally came to their mind to say, this is in the heavens. It's way above anything we do on earth. It's marvelous. It's wondrous. It's amazing. Psalm 108:4,5 speak of his loving kindness, truth and glory. Again, I can't spend as much time expounding these, but I just want you to be exposed to it so you see how common an image it is. Psalm 108:4 5 For thy lovingkindness is great above the heavens, and thy truth reaches unto the skies. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth. Psalm 113:4,5 Jehovah is high above all nations, and his glory above the heavens. Here we have Jehovah himself being in the heavens. Verse 5 says, who is like unto Jehovah, our God that hath his seat on high? Jehovah is unique, and according to this psalm, he humbles himself to pay attention to the creation at all, because he is so glorious. Psalm 97, 9 says, Jehovah is above the earth, our God himself. For thou Jehovah art most high above all the earth thou art exalted far above all gods. He's unlike any of the gods of human invention and imagination. Psalm 99:2 Jehovah is great in Zion, and he is high above all the peoples. He's above all the nations of the earth. And then two more at the beginning and the end of the Psalm. Psalm 81 hopefully you remember how this well known psalm begins. O Jehovah, our God, how excellent is thy name in all the earth, who hath set thy glory in the heavens, or above the heavens, depending on how you translate the Hebrew. The point is, God's glory exceeds anything on earth. And this is repeated in Psalm 148 at the end of the Psalter. Psalm 148:13. Let them praise the name of Jehovah, for his name alone is exalted. His glory is above the earth and the heavens. So the glory of God is above the earth over and over and over again. Then you get the point. This expression of being above the earth is found when it comes to God, his loving kindness, his faithfulness, his truth, his glory. Jehovah Himself repeatedly these expressions in the Bible that he is and his attributes are therefore above the earth. Now this is the one that Isaiah uses in Isaiah 55 then, and let's turn back to Isaiah 55 and ask, what is it that Isaiah is getting at when he uses this common idiom? What is Isaiah talking about? Verses 1, 2 and 3 Isaiah talks about God's free provision for his people. Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters. And he who has no money, come buy and eat. Yes, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. God gives away his blessings, his provision, his salvation freely. Verse 7 talks about the mercy of God for the pardoning of our sins. Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto Jehovah, and he will have mercy upon him to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. What Isaiah is getting across here is the free grace of God. In fact, to really appreciate the punch that Isaiah gives to this message, when we get to Isaiah 55, let's go back and look at the flow of Isaiah's argument in this book. Turn back to Isaiah 1. How does Isaiah begin? He emphasizes the sin and the rebellion of these people. What would you do to people like this? What would be appropriate? Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. Isaiah calls on the creation to bear testimony against the Israelites, for Jehovah has spoken. I have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me. The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know my people doth not consider. Ah, sinful nation. A people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that deal corruptly. They have forsaken Jehovah they have despised the Holy One of Israel. They are estranged and gone backward. Why will ye be still stricken that ye revolt more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint from the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and fresh stripes. They have not been clothed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil. Jump to verse 10. Hear the word of Jehovah, ye rulers of Sodom. What kind of language is that? Isaiah calls Jerusalem Sodom? Now give ear unto the law of your God, ye people of Gomorrah. What unto me is the multitude of your sacrifices, saith Jehovah. I have had enough of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts. And I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs, or of he goats. When ye come to appear before me. Who hath required this at your hand to trample my courts, bring no more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination unto me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies. I cannot away with iniquity. And the solemn meetings, your new moons and your appointed feast, my soul hateth, they are a trouble unto me. I am weary of bearing with them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean, Put away the evil of your doings. From before mine eyes cease to do evil, learn to do good, seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. What an indictment. This is terrible. In Isaiah, line upon line lays this guilt on the people. He says, God is sick of your religion. And though he ordained the offerings and the sacrificial system, he's sick of what you're doing there, and he is sick of listening to you. He's sick of looking upon you. He will not hear you, he will not see you. He will not bless you. He says, away with you. I want nothing to do with you. Sodom and Gomorrah, verse 21. How has the faithful city become a harlot? She that was full of justice, righteousness lodged in her. But now, murderers. Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water. Thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Every one loves bribes and follows after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. So what's the message of Isaiah all about? God is furious with you, and rightly so. You are an abomination and a stench in his nostrils. He's tired of you. You are polluted with sin. Your sin is like crimson before him. Your blood stained with all of your unrighteous acts and attitudes. In the same Isaiah as the one one that God sent to proclaim these words. Isaiah 1:18. Come now, let us reason together, saith Jehovah. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, Though they be Red like crimson they shall be as wool. Isn't that amazing? God says you are polluted, polluted blood, stained crimson red with sin. But come and listen to me, reason with me, because I'm going to make it white as snow. Verse 25. And I will turn my hand upon thee and thoroughly purge away thy dross, and will take away all thy tin. And I will restore thy judges as the first and thy counselors, as at the beginning. Afterward thou shalt be called the city of rose righteousness, a faithful town. Isaiah has just called them Sodom and Gomorrah, the harlot city. And now he says, but you will be called the city of righteousness, a faithful town. Zion shall be redeemed with justice, and her converts with righteousness. God is furious with the sin of the people, and yet he sends a promise that he will graciously purify them. He will take away their stains. He will restore life to them. He will make the harlot city of Sodom. Now to be the righteous and faithful city again. We see the amazing promise of God's deliverance in Isaiah 52. I'd like to go chapter by chapter, but I'm going to jump ahead now. Isaiah 52. Awake. Awake. Put on thy strength, O Zion. Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city. For henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Shake thyself from the dust. Arise, sit on thy throne, O Jerusalem. Loose thyself from the bonds of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith Jehovah, ye were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money. For thus saith the Lord Jehovah. My people went down at first into Egypt to sojourn there, and the Assyrian hath oppressed them without cause. Now therefore, what do I here, saith Jehovah, seeing that my people is taken away for nothing? They that rule over them do howl, saith Jehovah, and my name continually. All the day is blasphemed. Therefore my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak. Behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings and publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion thy God reigneth. How beautiful, even the dirty feet of the messenger. How beautiful the one who upon the mountains proclaims the good news of God. In Isaiah 52, we read that God will amazingly, deliver his people from captivity, and they will come back. But the proclamation of good news is greater than simply the restoration to the land after they've been in Babylonian captivity. Isaiah 53 shows that this is a blessing that points to the total restoration of God's people. Isaiah begins the chapter by saying, who can believe this, really? Who has believed our message? To whom is the arm of Jehovah revealed? For he grew up before him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness and when we see him, there is no beauty that we would desire him. He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their face. He was despised, and we esteemed him not. The amazing thing is, God is going to send a deliverer. God is going to send his own servant to suffer for the sake of the people. And Isaiah says, you know how amazing this message is. When he comes, men will despise him. They'll turn away from him and disdain. Verse 4. But surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But here's the point. He was wounded not for anything that was wrong with him, this deliverer that God is going to send. He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. The stripes are his, and the healing is ours. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. But Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. How amazing a message that is, that God would send one to a rebellious people and unrighteous people, those who would despise and despitefully use the Messiah, and yet he would take upon himself the iniquity of us all. Verse 7. He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted, he opened not his mouth as a lamb that is led to slaughter, and as a sheep that before his shearers is dumb. So he opened not his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And as for his generation, who among them considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was really due, and they made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased Jehovah to bruise him. I mean, these things don't go together, do they? The innocent is suffering for the rebellion of people that ought to have the stroke of judgment fall on them. Yet it pleased Jehovah to pruse him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of Jehovah shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied by the knowledge of himself. Shall my righteous servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because he poured out his soul unto death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he bare the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. You see the sure mercy of God. He's going to send a suffering substitute. He's not simply going to, amazingly deliver you from Babylonian captivity. The good news that's proclaimed upon the mountains is that God is going to totally restore his people, even though he has to suffer in their behalf. He's going to send a substitute to die for them. And then in chapter 54, Isaiah again points to the greatness of God's mercy. Isaiah 54, 7, 8. For a small moment have I forsaken thee. But with great mercies will I gather thee in overflowing wrath. I hid my face from thee for a moment. But with everlasting loving kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith Jehovah, thy Redeemer. God says you are going to suffer. You're going to go into captivity. It'll be but for a moment. For a moment I turn my face away from you. But my everlasting relationship will be one of lovingkindness. So says your Redeemer. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed. But my loving kindness shall not depart from thee. Neither shall my covenant of peace be removed, saith Jehovah, that hath mercy on thee. I don't know. We'd have to really be dull not to get the point by now, right? The people deserve nothing but the wrath and the curse of God. They are crimson red blood stained in their sin and rebellion. And yet he will have mercy. He will purify them. He will send a deliverer. He will suffer for the sins of the people. The chastisement of their peace will be upon him. He will be bruised for their iniquities. And so God declares, and Isaiah declares for God the greatness of his mercy. For a moment I have looked away from you, but for everlasting joy. I will show you loving kindness. So says your redeemer. And that's when we come to Isaiah 55. Now it's with all of that you see that buildup about sin and rebellion. And yet God will purify graciously, come and suffer for his people, show them mercy. And Isaiah 55 begins, and anyone who's thirsty for this, I'll give it to you free. Verse three tells us, imply in your ear, come unto me, hear your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you. Even the sure mercies of David, the mercy of God, is without price. He says, you don't have to spend anything. So why are you running around, you know, using up your energy and your labor and spending your money for things that will not take care of the problem. I offer it to you freely. The sure mercies of David. Isaiah 55, 7. Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts, let him return unto Jehovah. And here's the theme. He will have mercy upon him, and to our God he will abundantly pardon. And I've purposely gone all the way back and tried to build this up, even though I couldn't look at each chapter. But you see how this huge message of a forgiving, merciful God is there. And it's then that Isaiah says, for his thoughts and his ways are higher than the earth. Because when you look at what's wrong with Israel and you look at the sin and you look at the rebellion, you have to say, of course God can't forgive this. It's gone too far. God shouldn't show anything but wrath toward these people and to us. And so when Isaiah bids people to repent and promises that God will show mercy, our natural human explanation, our inclination, pardon me, is to say, he can't possibly forgive. I would imagine some of you here tonight, I put myself in this category. I know people who will be listening by tape have had times in your life. And you say, God can't possibly forgive me anymore. I'm not worthy to be forgiven. And you're not. Americans suggest that you are in any sense deserving of this. And so when we hear the gospel, the good news, that God will freely forgive and purify, and our inclination is to say, that's not the way humans do this. I know that with my own earthly companions, with my boss at work, Teachers at school, maybe your own parents. Such forgiveness was never extended in that way. So freely, so fully, so abundantly. That's not an earthly way of doing things. And that's why Isaiah says. For Jehovah says, my thoughts are above the earth and my ways are above your ways. Ways. I don't do things the way you do. You see the wonder of God's grace and why Isaiah has to say, if you're going to understand salvation, you have to understand that it's not earthly. It's not according to human imagination and expectation at all. Notice verses 8 and 9 beginning with the word for. Verse 7 said, Let the wicked forsake his way, the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto to Jehovah he will have mercy upon him, to our God he will abundantly pardon. For here's the explanation of our sin, the need of repentance. My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. That's why you've got to forsake your ways and your thoughts and return to God. But how will he have mercy? Verse 9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my excuse me. So are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. It's because I don't act like you do. It's because I don't think the way you do. That mercy is extended freely and openly. Yes, it's too good to be true. But you see, God does more than we can imagine. That's Isaiah's message. That's why he uses this language of being above the earth and in the heavens. Throughout the Bible we see the same sort of thing. This amazing ability and love on God's part that enables him to forgive worthless sinners like ourselves. I'm just going to. I wanted to go through these passages with you. Time will escape me if I do. But let me just give you a list of things here. In Romans 4. 5, Paul tells us that God justifies the ungodly. I just want you to look at that sentence and stand back in wonder and awe. To justify is to declare righteous. And what Paul says is God somehow declares the ungodly to be righteous. How can he do that? Of course you know the answer. Chapter 5 of Romans tells us that when it comes to human affairs, you hardly find somebody who will die for a good man. Much less will someone die for somebody that's really evil and wicked. But God shows his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, while we were Ungodly. Christ died for us. There was no violence in his mouth. There was no sin upon his hands. There was nothing that he had done wrong. He must have been bruised. Then, for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him. He died for the ungodly. And so God does this thing which doesn't even make sense in terms of human legalistic thinking. God declares the ungodly to be righteous. Colossians 1, verses 20 and 21. Paul tells us that we are enemies in our minds against God. And yet God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, to those who were enemies. And here's the amazing thing. You know the biblical procedure. If you've offended your brother, if you have created hostility and enmity, you, the offending party, are supposed to go and to seek reconciliation, do restitution, ask forgiveness, and so forth. What Paul tells us in Colossians one is that we are the offending party. We are enemies in our minds. We are the hostile guilty party. And God pursues us in reconciliation. Again, this is beyond human imagination. This is not the way we do things. God is not the one who should seek reconciliation. We are the ones. Consider what Peter says in 1 Peter 3:18, that when Christ died, he did so the righteous for the unrighteous. Again, the amazing mercy of God. He didn't die for those who were worthwhile, who had done their best, had really been sincere. And so God says, that's good enough. For your partial righteousness, I will send the righteous in your place. The righteous dies for the unrighteous. Ephesians 2:4 5. Those who are dead in trespasses and sin, he gives life to them. Notice all these contrast. The impure are given purification. The hostile are sought out for reconciliation. Those who are ungodly are declared righteous. Those who are dead are given life. Revelation 7:14. There are those who have robes that are white because they have been dipped in the blood of the Lamb. Blood should stain their robes. In this case, the amazing mercy of God is that blood makes them white and takes our sinful stains away. What Isaiah has said in his prophecy about the mercy of God is the message of the whole scripture. God does an amazing work of salvation. Something that seems almost contradictory. I say almost. There is no conceptual contradiction. But God declares the ungodly to be righteous. He gives life to the dead. He takes those who are enemies and seeks reconciliation. The righteous dies for the unrighteous. He's made a curse for us. All of that is so amazing. And what I want to do before we end tonight is point out how often in the Bible then the doctrine of salvation by grace is set forth as something which is too much for human understanding. What Isaiah had said in his own way, using the Old Testament idiom, was, God's thoughts and ways are higher than your thoughts and ways. They're higher than the earth. They're more than you could expect. Amazing. Wondrous. And this is what we see throughout the Bible as well. Look at 1 Peter 1:8. Peter says, speaking of the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom not having seen you love, on whom though now you see him not yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and fulfilled of glory. Peter says, you know this Jesus who has died for the sins of his people, and even though you haven't seen him, you love him and you rejoice greatly. But with what kind of joy? Unspeakable joy. Now, I realize a good deal of my teaching ministry as a theologian, especially in apologetics, emphasizes, is the way in which we are supposed to be able to say things and defend them and give arguments. And so I hope that you'll appreciate the fact that it's that kind of teacher who's standing before you tonight says, there's a sense in which when we speak of the joy of being Christians, we get to the place where words will not do it to say, I can only tell you so much. And then it becomes unspeakably good, because his ways are higher than the earth. Look at 1 Corinthians 2:9, 10, 1 Corinthians 2:9. But as it is written, things which eye saw not, and ear heard not, and which entered not into the heart of man, whatsoever things God prepared for them that love him. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. Paul says, what God has prepared for those who love him has not even entered into the heart of man. You know how good salvation is going to be. It hasn't even entered your heart how good it is. Now, in a sense, though it has been revealed to us According to verse 10, the unregenerate cannot in their hearts even imagine how good God is in saving and what his love is like. But unto us God revealed them through the Spirit. And here we are told, the Spirit searches all things. Yes, the deep things of God. This deep, mysterious love of God has been communicated to us by the Holy Spirit, sort of thing that would not even enter into the heart of the unregenerate man. Or look at Romans 11:32, 33, back a few pages in your Bible. Romans 11:32 says, For God hath shut up all unto disobedience that he might have mercy upon. There's that theme of mercy. And then Paul says, oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past tracing out. Why can't you trace out the ways of God? Because they aren't on earth, they aren't earthly, they aren't in this league or this ballpark at all. They're in the heavens. To use the biblical image, you can't trace out the ways of God's mercy. It is so wondrous, it is so great. Look at Philippians 4:7. Paul there says, and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus. There are times when you. When you feel that peace with God and you know that you are forgiven. And when God comforts your heart in the midst of sorrow, and you can't put any words to it, there is a sense in which that Christian experience is ineffable. It passes all understanding. You're beginning to get the point. As rational as Christian theology is, when all is said and done, it goes beyond our reason, it goes beyond our expectation, it goes beyond our thoughts. It's higher than the earth, as Isaiah would put it. Romans 8:18. Paul says, for I read reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. The glory to be revealed in us is beyond any mere comparison with the present sufferings that we have. Again, the emphasis upon how God's going to do such a work that you can hardly describe it. You can't even compare it. It's not even like, well, everything that you've got through, there'll be a counterpart to that in heaven. God will make it up in that way. Paul says, that's not good enough either. It's not even worth what he's going to do. And the glory we're going to see and the love we're going to experience is going to be so great you won't even compare it to the sufferings of this life. And then one more passage, one that I've been holding out to the end. All the others make the point, but Paul really says it all, it seems to me. In Ephesians 3, verses 18 to 20. Ephesians 3, 1820. In the 17th verse, he is asked that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith to the end that we being rooted and grounded in love now verse 18 may be strong to apprehend with all the saints. What is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth? What's he talking about? What are these dimensions to be strong to apprehend with all the saints? What are the dimensions of God's love? It's so great. And then in verse 19, and to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that ye may be filled into all the fullness of God now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask. I understand that God does more than I ask. He says or think according to the power that works in us. God does more than can even enter into the mind of men. How great can salvation get? This is the great thing. You cannot imagine salvation as so great that it's going to be anywhere like what it's going to really be when you know God for all eternity. God does exceeding above all that we think. It's so great. And that's why he says in verse 19 that the love of Christ passes knowledge. The love of Christ goes beyond anything that we can imagine. It is so good. Tonight's lesson has been another lesson on how God's thoughts go beyond our thoughts. He does things which are unexpected, unnatural, in a sense, the sorts of things which we could never have imagined or dreamed up. And this isn't just part of the more difficult doctrines of the incomprehensibility of God and about mysticism and reason and all that. What we're talking about is the experience of salvation can't be put into words. It's so good. So let the unrighteous man forsake his thoughts, the wicked man his ways, and turn unto Jehovah, for he will abundantly pardon. Really? Yes. Because as the heavens are higher than the earth, God says, my thoughts are higher than yours and my ways than yours. Let's pray. We come before you, Heavenly Father, and truly are speechless. We stand in awe and wonder that people who deserve so little indeed deserve nothing, no, deserve very definitely your wrath and your curse and your eternal enmity and hostility. For the way in which we have insulted your holiness and walked in our own ways and rebelled against you, and disobeyed your holy law and lived unto ourselves and have been loveless and brought reproach upon your name. We deserve nothing at all except your disenchantment, disdain truly your hatred, your judgment. And yet you have promised to purify us without us having to work for it. You've promised to cleanse us and that you would pay the price. You have taken the punishment due to us upon yourself, even when you were despised and rejected of men. And you have shown mercy to us, free mercy. You have not expected us to clean ourselves up or to show ourselves, even in a minimal way, worthy. But while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Truly, your love is beyond understanding. It's not at all like human experience, not at all the sort of thing that we would do, not the sort of thing we could ever expect. How we thank you for reassuring our hearts by this wonderful word of Isaiah that the reason that you are so merciful is because you aren't like us. That your thoughts are above our thoughts and your ways are above our ways. And that truly we look forward to an experience of everlasting joy and eternal life that cannot be put into words. All we can say is thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Next week we'll talk about the power of God's Word and what God is going to do that will surprise you. I didn't quite understand the phrase when God says come and reason with me. The word reason seems to be, especially in light of what you just said about his reasoning versus our reasoning and so forth. Yeah, I think God is calling upon his people to exercise their reason as a tool rather than to test me by your reason. When he says come reason, I think he's saying, come think this through with me. Follow this along with your mind, if you will. He's not saying now because we can't reason with God, can we? Well, if you understand by reason with God, negotiate with God or subject him to our standards. Of course not. And you know, the funny thing is I didn't, I didn't put this in the lesson, but it's worthy of a note that, you know, people often think that's they want to have their day with God. God's going to have to prove himself. But the glory is that we can't reason with him that way because what he's got for us is so much better than what we'd ever come up with on our own. In a sense, I want to thank God that he's not put himself in that subordinate position to my reason because then he would never bless me with the grace that he blesses me with. Is that making sense? Yeah, a little Christ in the church of words. I was wondering a little bit about the translation. Well, it amounts to come think this through with you. Reason this out with me. Well, I went over time and I apologize for that, but I was just excited a lot on it. Give you time for questions next week.