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The Ways of God are Inscrutable

September 12, 1999 ~ Pickering Standard Church

Isaiah 55:6-13 - Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.

This past week in Ivanhoe I had the privilege of seeing God at work through the activities of His people. While in many ways this camp was not as obviously productive as others I have been to I can recall no other camp where the hand of God was so apparent. What I would like to do this morning is to discuss a passage from Isaiah that conveys very well what I believe I saw God doing during camp.

This passage begins with God calling out to someone, it is an invitation for men to call upon the Lord.

Isaiah 55:6-7 - Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

The remarkable thing, however, is that God is not simply calling all men but He is inviting those who are sinners to come to Him that He may pardon their sin. He specifically asks that the wicked and evil turn to the Lord, the only requirement being that they turn to Him completely and walk no longer in their ways of sin. Jesus confirms this when He tells those who are amazed that He would concern Himself with Zacchaeus by saying:

Luke 19:10 - For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.

God calls those who need Him to come to Him, He is concerned for the lost to such an extent that He would do any thing to save them. A song that Marilyn has sung before us says it very well:

God loves people more than any thing.

God loves people more than any thing.

More than any thing He wants you to know,

He'd rather die than let them go,

God loves people more than any thing.

God was so desirous of the lost being saved that He died to accomplish their salvation.

This leads us naturally to the idea that this kind of love is strange. Very rarely would we be willing to die innocently so that some enemy of ours may live but this is exactly what God did when Jesus Christ died on the cross, He died innocently for His enemies. God addresses our puzzlement by telling us simply that His ways are so far beyond ours that they are beyond our comprehension:

Isaiah 55:8-9 - For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

This is all the answer we get, simply a statement of the grandeur of God and that He is so far beyond us that we may as well trust Him as try to understand Him. He is not telling us that His ways are beyond our reason but that they are beyond our capability to understand. God's purposes are always reasonable but we will be incapable of understanding them.

By way of explaining His purpose so that we can understand, God uses Isaiah to introduce the efficacy of God's Word:

Isaiah 55:10-11 - As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

God's Word incorporates two concepts: That of the Scripture as the word of God, and that of Jesus Christ as God's own Word. John introduces Jesus in the following manner:

John 1:1-4 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews continues this comparison and uses it to emphasize that Jesus is vastly superior to the written word of the Scriptures:

Hebrews 1:1-3 - In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Jesus Himself told His disciples that all who had seen Him had also seen the Father:

John 14:6-11 - Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves."

And God, in speaking in Isaiah of His Word tells us that the Word will accomplish the purpose which has been set for it. God's Word will not return empty to heaven but will be effective to save all who call upon His name.

The ultimate result of God's plan is two fold:

First, the redeemed will be joyful:

Isaiah 55:12 - You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

The second is that God will obtain glory for Himself because of what He in His endless mercy has chosen to do for us:

Isaiah 55:13 - Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the LORD's renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.

This past week at Ivanhoe was different from others in that through the entire week I am only aware of one person who was saved from sin. Each night the altar was empty in spite of the Lord's preparation of His teacher. The most we ever had come to the altar were about half a dozen on one of the final nights. Yet I am not aware that anyone was disappointed with this result, I know that I was not even though it was my prayer and the prayer of those assisting me that all forty five of the youth be saved.

In no other camp did I so notice the enemy attempting to distract us from the gospel and yet he was unable to. We had many suffering from various heat related illness. We had several dog bites, one of which was almost deadly. We had a girl eat a peanut and almost die from it. In spite of all of this the gospel was preached daily with the messages which I was giving to the youth being almost identical in content to the messages being given to the adults. God's power overruled even our enemy.

After no other camp have I felt so like praising my God because of what I knew He was doing through me during that week. I am not trying to be vain but I can think nothing else than that God was guiding each one of us during camp for some purpose of His that we have no idea of but that it will result in salvation for sinners and glory for our God.

I have never before encountered a camp such as the camp this year where so much has been done for God with so little apparent yield. But Isaiah has told us some very important points that we must always remember:

1 - God's plan may not make sense to us but it doesn't need to since it makes sense to God.

2 - God's plan is so far beyond any we might make that it would make ours seem crazy by comparison. We need to submit our plans to His authority.

3 - God's plan will accomplish what He has intended it to accomplish, His schedule is not ours.

4 - God's plan will result in the salvation of sinners and the praise of His glory.

We may not have all the answers but we serve the God who does. This past week I learned to trust His wisdom and to follow His will, let us pray that we may all continue to do so.