GOD UNKNOWN YET KNOWN
Isaiah 55:6-9. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, &c.
There is a paradox in these words. They invite us to seek a God who yet cannot be found, to know a God who yet cannot be known. For where should we seek God if not in His “ways;” or how shall we know Him except by coming to know His “thoughts”? And yet, while we are urged to seek Him, we are expressly told that His thoughts and ways are as high above ours as the heavens are high above the earth. Is God, then, unknowable absolutely? Consider—
I. THE ANSWER TO THAT QUESTION RETURNED BY SCIENCE AND PHILOSOPHY. Science says, or some of her disciples say for her: “In the whole range of visible and observed phenomena we find no proof of God.” What then? If men will go to the visible for the invisible, to phenomena for realities, how can they hope to find what they seek? They might as well go to the sand of the desert for water, or to the troubled sea for a solid foundation. Votaries of philosophy say: “In the whole range of human experience and knowledge we can find no proof that God is, or no means of coming to know Him as He is.” What then? So far as their affirmation is true, do they say anything the world has not heard on still higher authority before?—anything which the Bible does not say again and again? “Canst thou by searching find out God!” No doubt we know Him, in part, by our reason. According to one great thinker, the starry heavens and the law of conscience are a sufficient proof of the being and rule of God to the thoughtful and susceptible heart. Still, it is an open question whether the logic and researches of reason can carry us further than the position assumed by one of the leading expositors of modern science, who says, “that there is a God I can neither affirm nor deny; that we can discover and know Him I wholly doubt: and yet in my most open and best moods I am dimly aware of the Creative Power which we call God.” And perhaps we shall never be able to prove the existence of God any more than we can prove our own.
II. THE ANSWER RETURNED BY REVELATION. The Scriptures, in a great variety of forms, do proclaim God to be above our reach. The Bible nowhere undertakes to demonstrate His existence, though it everywhere assumes and asserts it; and God Himself has warned us that we must wait for a full and perfect knowledge of Him until this mortal put on immortality. Admitting God to be unknowable, the Bible yet affirms that He may be known. We cannot find Him out to perfection, but He sufficiently and most truly reveals Himself to us in His works, in His Word, in His Son. Take the illustration of the text. God’s thoughts and ways, we are told, are as high above ours as the heavens above the earth. But the heavens, high as they are, are yet known to us, and, though known, are yet unknown. The most accomplished astronomer will tell you that in the heaven above, as in the earth beneath us, there is very much more to be learned than he has acquired or hopes to acquire. But though “heaven” be so imperfectly known to us, does any sane man doubt that there is a heaven, or that it holds within it the sun, moon, and stars? We know at least enough of the heavens to guide us in all the practical purposes of life. And it is precisely in the same sense that God is both known to us and unknown. We cannot learn all that He is, all that He does, or all the reasons which determine the several aspects of His providence; but we may know, we do know and are sure, that He is, and that He rules over all. For consider—
III. THAT IN MAN TO WHICH GOD REVEALS HIMSELF. The pure in heart shall see God. The Bible says: “The righteous God reveals Himself to righteousness, the pure God to purity, the kind God to kindness.” In proportion as we approach to moral purity and perfection, we possess ourselves of the organ or instrument by which we may see Him. Paul affirms that as we nourish ourselves in faith, in hope, in charity, we shall come to know Him even as also we are known by Him; and John, that if we purify ourselves we shall hereafter see Him as He is, and be like Him. Is not that the way in which we come to know all persons, and especially good persons? The child does not know his father perfectly; but need he doubt that he has a father? Do we not know that God is, although we are but children in understanding? Is not this scriptural, this Divine way of coming to know God the natural and reasonable way? It is not by arbitrary caprice that God often hides Himself from the wise who want to find Him out by logic, by quest of intellect, by force of reason and induction, and reveals Himself to the “babes” who keep a simple, sincere, and loving heart. It is only because goodness and purity and kindness can only reveal themselves to kindness and purity and goodness. The true way to know God is by the heart, by the great moral qualities and emotions through which we are most closely akin to Him.—Samuel Cox, D.D.: Genesis of Evil, pp. 61–76.
The incredible Mercy of God
If there be some who find it hard to believe that there is a God, there are others who find it equally hard to believe that He is good,—so good that He can forgive all sins, even theirs, and cleanse them from all their iniquities. The Prophet had been commissioned to carry a message to the captive Jews. It was that, heinous as their iniquity had been, it was pardoned; and that to the merciful and relenting heart of Jehovah it seemed as if they had already endured “double” for all their sins, i.e., twice as much as their sins had deserved (Isaiah 40:2). Hence He was about to appear for them, to appear among them, delivering them from their captivity (Isaiah 40:3-11; Isaiah 55:12-13). In this message, God was drawing near to them; finding them, that they might find Him. But sinful men, especially when they are suffering the bitter punishment of their sins, are apt to be hopeless men.
As nothing is possible to doubt and despair, God sets Himself to remove the natural incredulity and hopelessness of the men He was about to save. That His mercy is incredible, He admits; but He affirms that it is only incredible in the sense of being incredibly larger and better than they imagine it to be. They might have found it impossible to forgive those who had sinned against them as they had sinned against Him. “But,” pleads God, “My thoughts are not your thoughts,” &c. The main point of these verses is not so much that God Himself is unknowable to us, as that His mercy is incredible to us. If, then, we would learn the lesson of these words, and take their comfort, what we have to do is,
I. TO CONVINCE AND PERSUADE OURSELVES THAT THE MERCY OF GOD IS IMMEASURABLY, INCALCULABLY, GREATER THAN WE HAVE CONCEIVED IT TO BE, SO MUCH GREATER THAT IT NATURALLY APPEARS TO BE ALTOGETHER INCREDIBLE TO US. We must get ourselves to believe, that the more largely we think of the Divine Mercy the more truly we think of it, if only we remember that it is a mercy which does not condone men’s sins, which calls upon them and compels them to abandon their “wicked ways” and their “unrighteous thoughts.” No mercy short of this would be true mercy. To make men happy in their sins is impossible, as impossible as to make them good in their sins. For sin is misery. And even if this ignoble miracle were possible, who that is capable of reflection, of virtue, of goodness, would care to have such a miracle wrought upon him? To be happy in sin he must cease to be himself, cease to be a man. What we really desire when we ask for mercy is a mercy that will be at the pains to cleanse us from the soils of evil and strike its fetters from our souls. And so long as we cherish this desire, we may be sure that the mercy of God stands waiting to meet it, to outrun all our thoughts and expectations, all our wishes and hopes. The very punishments that wait on sin, since they wait on it by a constant and invariable law, are designed for our good. This law makes us terribly aware that we have sinned,—a fact we are very slow to realise. We ought to take the retributions which wait on sin, not as proofs that God has abandoned us and ceased to care for us, but as proofs that He is near us, so near that, if we seek, we shall find Him, that, if we call on Him, He will answer us. By His merciful punishments God is at once convicting us of sin and calling on us to repent, that, repenting, we may be forgiven, purged, saved.
II. WE MUST EXPECT TO BE CONVINCED OF THE PITY AND COMPASSION OF GOD, NOT SO MUCH BY HAVING THE KINDNESS OF HIS LAWS DEMONSTRATED TO US, AS BY LISTENING TO THE MEN WHOM WE BELIEVE TO HAVE HAD THE LARGEST EXPEDIENCE OF HIS WAYS AND TO ENJOY THE PROFOUNDEST SYMPATHY WITH HIS THOUGHTS. This is a corollary from the conclusion, that it is not by arguments addressed to the understanding that we come to know God, or the mercy of God, but by experience and sympathy. Just as we come to know the righteous God by becoming righteous, so we may hope to learn more of Him from the men whose righteousness is far more eminent and conspicuous than our own. Just as we come to know the mercy of God by becoming merciful, so we may hope to acquaint ourselves more fully with Him by listening to men far more merciful and gracious than ourselves. Such a man, and teacher, was the prophet who penned these words. This man has a claim to speak of God with an authority which few can rival. And this is what he has to say to you of God,—that God’s mercy transcends all your conceptions of mercy, that it seems incredible to you only because it is so large and rich and free that you can very hardly bring yourselves to believe in it. Isaiah’s testimony is, that in all those painful, restless, self-despairing moods bred in you by the sense of sin, God is drawing near to you, and calling on you to seek His face; and that, if you do seek Him, you shall find Him.—Samuel Cox, D.D., Genesis of Evil, pp. 77–90.
SEEKING THE LORD
Isaiah 55:6-8. Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, &c.
The previous context was addressed, in the first instance, to the Jews; and now the prophet seems to press upon them the practical question—What, then, ought you to do? Shall the Gentiles (Isaiah 55:5) enter the kingdom of heaven before you? How will you prevent it? By excluding them? No; the true course is to enter with them, or, if you will, before them.
But it may be doubted whether this is the chief meaning of the text. Its terms are in no respect more restricted than those of the preceding verses, and especially the first part of the chapter, which obviously relates to the wants of men in general, and the best way to supply them.
Notice in this passage—
I. THE REASON IMPLIED FOR THE COMMAND. If the words “while He is near” denote “while He continues in a special covenant relation to the Jews,” then the command would seem to imply that by seeking the Lord and calling upon Him, that peculiar, exclusive covenant relation might be rendered perpetual, which was not the case. Or if, on the other hand, “while He may be found” denotes in a general way the possibility of finding favour and forgiveness at His hands, then the reason suggested is in no respect more applicable to the Jews than to the Gentiles. In this sense God was just as near to the one as to the other. The principles on which He would forgive and save were just the same in either case. The necessity of seeking, the nature of the object sought, the way of seeking it, are wholly independent of external circumstances. There is a limit to the offer of salvation, which is made to all. If there were not, sin would be without control. If the sinner could suspend his choice for ever, there would be no punishment. Even in this life there is a limit. There is a time when God is near, and when He may be found. There must be a time, therefore, when He is no longer near, and is no longer to be found.
II. THE MANNER IN WHICH GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT. Not in this or that locality. Regard not those who say, “Lo, here; lo, there!” “Call upon Him.” But is no reformation, no change of life required? Not as the meritorious cause of salvation. It is purchased by another. But you cannot avail yourselves of it and continue as you are. The same voice which says, “Seek ye the Lord,” says likewise (Isaiah 55:7), “Let the wicked forsake his way”—a common figure for the course of conduct. He who would tread the way of God must forsake the way of sin. How?—by a mere external reformation? No; the law of God extends to the “thoughts,” &c. But this is still merely negative. It cannot be that what God calls men to is a mere negation, a mere abstinence. There must be commands as well as prohibitions. The mere cessation of former habits would be insufficient; nay, it is impossible. An active being must have something to seek as well as something to avoid. Evil courses can be really abandoned in no other way than by exchanging them for good ones. This is a dictate of nature, of reason, of experience, of revelation. “Let him return unto the Lord.” The fact is assumed that all have departed from Him. The words may seem strictly applicable only to backsliders; but they are indeed appropriate to all mankind. Can any departure be more real or deplorable than that which involves, not merely individuals, but the whole human family? The terms of the summons do indeed point back to that original apostasy under the curse of which the whole race groans. In the exercise of faith in Christ, and of that repentance which has never yet failed to accompany it since the world began, and of that zeal and obedience which can no more fail to spring from such repentance and such faith than the fruit can fail to spring from the prolific seed, “Let the wicked forsake his way,” &c.
III. THE INDUCEMENT HELD OUT TO RETURN. It is man’s part to forsake his evil ways and thoughts, to return to God, to seek Him, and to call upon Him. None of these can he do until God enable him. But this is true of every service which man ever renders. Though unable of himself to do these things, he is still bound to do them. It is his part to do them; and when he has performed his part, what does God promise in return? What will He do for man? He will have mercy upon him. Mercy is the inducement offered, and mercy is precisely what the sinner needs. Without this nothing can be given, or, if given, can do him any good. Mercy implies two things, misery and guilt. In all of us, the two pre-requisites are found abundantly—misery present and prospective, misery not produced by chance, but by our own sin. To us, then, this inducement ought to be a strong one. But, alas! the sinner is insensible of his condition.
IV. THE PROOF THAT SIN AND SALVATION ARE IRRECONCILABLE. Isaiah 55:8 gives a reason for the call to reformation and repentance. Here the same two words are placed in opposition—“ways” and “thoughts”—“let the wicked,” &c., i.e., you cannot walk in My ways and the ways of sin; you cannot think My thoughts, and yet cherish thoughts of sin; you must choose between sin and salvation. Many are afraid of hell; they are willing to be saved from it, but that is all. That slavish fear is the sum of their religion. They must keep their sins. Judge not God by man. God pardons nothing, or He pardons all. Man may be unforgiving when he is not just. God can be just, and yet not unforgiving. Man can be himself unjust, and yet condemn the innocent. God can be just, and yet justify the guilty. His grace will not save men in sin, but will freely save them from sin—since it will pardon sin itself to the believer, and whenever it pardons at all, will abundantly pardon even the chief of sinners—however foreign such forgiveness may be from human passions and human feelings: let the sinner hesitate and doubt no longer.—J. Alexander, D.D.: Gospel of Jesus Christ, pp. 357–370.
The characters here described. All are sinners, but some have repented and obtained forgiveness; while some remain impenitent and unforgiven. To which class do you belong? If to the latter, this discourse is especially addressed to you.
I. A GRACIOUS PROCLAMATION.
The Lord, “may be found. “He is near.” “He will have mercy.” “He will abundantly pardon.” God is ready to save sinners. As a father, who follows the steps of his wayward son, unwilling to cast him off, anxious to induce his return, ready to receive him on the first indication of a change. His heart is full of mercy. He desires to bestow a full forgiveness and make the reconciliation complete. There is the fullest proof of this—
1. In the atonement of Christ, which in itself and by the Divine arrangement affords a satisfactory basis for the exercise of mercy.
2. In the declarations of His word.
3. In the preaching of the gospel. This proclamation of mercy to man proceeds from the Divine love.
II. AN EARNEST CALL.
“Seek ye the Lord,” &c.
1. It is practical. It implies that the sinner must not lie still and wait for some hitherto unexperienced impulse. In the work of salvation there is doubtless something he cannot do. But there is something he can do. The text demands action. Do that which lies within your own province and is in your own power.
2. It is plain. What do these directions involve?
(1.) Repentance.
(2.) Abandonment of sin—God will save no man in his sins.
(3.) Prayer. He is to be called upon. God’s readiness and desire to save do not dispense with the necessity for prayer. He does not force salvation on any. He excites the desire for it, and then responds to the sinner’s cry. The penitent is sure to cry. The first sign of a child’s life is when it cries.
(4.) Faith. Faith in the word of God, faith in the saving power of Christ, which, however feeble at first, renounces self-righteousness as well as sin, and rests simply in Him (Romans 10:11; Romans 10:14).
3. It is essential.
III. A SOLEMN MONITION.
“While He may be found.” “While He is near.” This is clearly a monition. It indicates that there is a limit beyond which the opportunity is not extended. The opportunity is limited to the present life. We will not enter upon the awful question of judicial blindness; the terrible case of those who so persistently refuse to see the truth of Christ that their blindness and hardness become a punitive infliction. Nor on the cases of those whose opportunities are terminated by removal of residence, or by sickness. Nor on the cases of those whose opportunities are cut short by the terrible occurrence of insanity before the gospel is accepted; except to remark that the question is fairly suggested, how they will be dealt with, who up to the moment when the condition of responsibility ceased to exist, failed to seek the mercy which had been proffered. We will assume that ordinarily the opportunity, the possibility of salvation, continues during the present life. But the text implies the termination of that possibility. The present life is the grand opportunity. There is none beyond. At least, whatever may be the principle on which those will be dealt with to whom the gospel was never made known, the warnings addressed in Scripture to the hearers of the gospel imply that, so far as they are concerned, no second opportunity will be afforded. And none can say how near death is. Accept the offer of mercy without delay.—J. Rawlinson.
I. A DUTY ENJOINED, viz., to make the favour of God the object of our pursuit. “Seek ye the Lord,” “Call ye upon Him.” We must seek Him; 1, in the way of genuine repentance. It is vain to think of seeking God without such sorrow for sin and hatred of it, as lead on to “cease to do evil, and to learn to do well” (H. E. I. 4269–4273).
2. In the exercise of faith in Christ. He alone has made provision for our return to God; and if we do not take advantage of the provision thus made for us, we must remain at a distance from God for ever (John 14:6).
3. In the use of those outward means of grace which He has appointed, such as the Word of God and prayer. We cannot expect that God will work miracles on our behalf. If we wish for the manifestation of His favour, we must wait for it in the use of such means as He has instituted for the purpose of making such manifestation to the soul (H. E. I., 3444–3459).
II. A TIME SPECIFIED FOR ITS PERFORMANCE. There is one sense in which God is ever to be found, and is ever near us. But Isaiah does not here refer to His omnipresence, for that is perpetual. He means a nearness of God in a way of grace and favour, a readiness in His appointed way to bestow every blessing upon us. In this sense, it is the plain doctrine of the text, that there is a time when He is near us and will be found of us, and that there is also a time when He is distant from us and will not be found of us.
1. This is a truth which holds good in the case of collective bodies of men. For nations there is a time of mercy. God affords them in rich abundance the means of grace; this is the accepted time, when God is near and ready to be found. If these privileges are abused or neglected, there follows a time of wrath, and He will no longer be found of a people who have thus slighted His mercy. Examples:
(1) Compare what is said of the Jewish nation (in Deuteronomy 4) with their present condition.
(2) The nations among whom Christian churches were planted by the apostles and their immediate successors, now, as the just reward of the abuse of their privileges, groaning, for the most part, under the scourge of Mohammedan tyranny and imposture. How full of solemn admonition are these instances for the inhabitants of this land!
2. It holds good also in respect to individuals.—
(1) With respect to every person who is favoured with the means of grace there is a time of mercy, in which, if he seeks the Lord, He will be found of him. Generally speaking, this is the time of the present life. More especially it is vouchsafed when, by means of His Word, His Spirit strives in our hearts. The hour of conviction should be the hour of conversion.
(2) But for individuals also there is a time of wrath, in which God will no longer be found of them. If we neglect to seek Him until we are removed out of this world by death, it will then be for ever too late to do so (Luke 13:25). But it is by no means impossible that that time may arrive even on this side of the grave. If we persevere in acting in defiance of our convictions, if we refuse to yield to the salutary motions of His Spirit, He may be provoked to give us over to final impenitence and to judicial hardness of heart (H. E. I., 2349, 4249, 4250).—John Natt, B.D.: Posthumous Sermons, pp. 168–183.
Implies—
I. THAT MANKIND HAVE LOST HIM.
1. This loss is caused by sin (Isaiah 53:6; Isaiah 59:2). Sin has offended the Divine Lawgiver. Hence there is moral distance between Him and us. We are aliens, strangers, far off by wicked works. While man was holy he had communion with Him; but the pure One cannot commune with transgressors. We have lost the Divine friendship, image, &c.
2. This loss is the precursor of infinite and eternal loss. Who can fully estimate it?
3. It is a loss which no human resources can repair (Micah 6:6-7; Romans 9:31-32; Romans 10:1-3).
II. THAT A WAY HAS BEEN DEVISED BY WHICH THE DIVINE FAVOUR MAY BE REGAINED. That way is through the mediation of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19; John 3:16; Romans 5:2; Ephesians 2:18; Ephesians 3:12). Formerly, the Lord was sought through sacrifices; but all were typical of the one great sacrifice offered up on Calvary. Those harbingers of the cross are now no more, a Divine Victim has bled, and the way of salvation is through Christ (Hebrews 7:25).
III. SUBMISSION TO THE DIVINELY APPOINTED PLAN OF SALVATION BY THE USE OF THOSE MEANS SCRIPTURALLY SPECIFIED. Man has sought out many inventions by which to be saved Romans 10:1-3, with Philippians 3:4-9; 1 Corinthians 3:11).
1. A deep conviction that we cannot be happy till we have found the Lord, combined with the renunciation of self-righteousness (Acts 2:37).
2. Diligent inquiry and attention.
3. Faith in Christ and earnest prayer.
IV. SEEKING THE LORD REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION. We are prone to procrastinate. Some say they are too young, &c. The Lord may be more easily found—
1. In early life.
2. Under the preaching of the Gospel (Galatians 3:1).
3. When under Divine conviction.
CONCLUSION.—The privilege of seeking the Lord is limited to the present life. Our opportunities are passing away, &c. Seek Him now.—Helps for the Pulpit: Second series, pp. 10–14.
Propose and answer three questions—
I. Why you should seek the Lord?
We could give many reasons why you should, but you cannot give one why you should not. That a man should be religious is the first dictate of reason, and the first command of Revelation. It is recommended too by the sense of interest (1 Timothy 4:8). Seek the Lord for three reasons—
1. Because you cannot be happy without Him.
2. Because you have much to apprehend from His displeasure as sinners.
3. Because you have everything to hope for from His friendship. “In His favour is life.”
II. When you should seek the Lord?
1. Now, while He may be found.
2. Now, while He is near.
III. How you should seek the Lord?
1. Penitently. Renouncing the sins you have loved.
2. Believingly, without distrust.
3. Joyfully, without despondence.
4. Continually, without end.—S. Thodey.
I. The character of the persons to whom the invitation is directed. Partly implied, and in part declared. They are distinguished not by their excellence and valuable qualities, but rather by those marks which prove them unworthy of the Divine regard or consideration. Such is our natural condition, and hence to us is the word of salvation sent.
1. To such as are ignorant of God. This is implied in the exhortation to seek Him. Man is naturally unacquainted with Him.
2. To those whose characters are marked by the wickedness of their lives.
3. To those whose state is indicated by their thoughts. Men look at the outward appearance, God at the heart. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
II. The nature of the exhortations addressed to them. It is the manner of God and not of men thus to speak.
1. The import of the injunctions. These are suited to the characters of the persons addressed. They are exhorted—
(1.) To seek the Lord.
(2.) To the exercise of prayer.
(3.) The abandonment of every sinful course.
(4.) Return to God. No more neutrality.
2. The season to which these exhortations apply.
III. The encouragements afforded to an immediate obedience.
1. The promise of mercy.
2. A plenitude of forgiveness.
3. Confirmation derived from the experience of others: “And to our God”—the God of His people. The language of piety—the experience of those who have found mercy. The idea is, He who has bestowed mercy upon us, will be ready to bestow it on others. “I obtained mercy.”
CONCLUSION.—Learn the duty of immediate return to God and submission to Christ. Come as you are.—George Smith, D.D.
I. There is moral distance between Christ and unconverted sinners. He thinks of them; they do not think of Him. He loves them; they do not love Him. He wishes them to do His will for their own benefit; they refuse. Awful antagonism. II. This moral distance can be removed. How? Not by sinners remaining passive. They must seek the Lord; know Him; call upon Him; pray to Him; trust Him. III. A time when this moral distance cannot be removed. When will this be? No day nor hour specified. The duty of sinners, therefore, is to seek and call now. Do not delay for a moment, lest then it may be too late.—A. M’Auslane, D.D.
PARDON TOR THE PENITENT
Isaiah 55:7-9. Let the wicked forsake his way, &c.
I. AN EXHORTATION TO REPENTANCE. Embraces three particulars.
1. The wicked man must forsake his way—the way of the multitude who do evil, the broad way which leadeth to destruction. We should confess our sin. But true repentance is something more than a bare confession of sin; it is a forsaking of sin (Isaiah 1:16; H. E. I. 4269–4272).
2. The unrighteous man must forsake his thoughts. It is not enough that the outward conduct should become moral, decent, and amiable. This is the case with many who yet know nothing of the grace of God in truth. Repentance, when it is genuine, strikes at the root of the evil: it will no more allow its possessor to indulge impure ideas, sinful thoughts, and unholy affections than it will suffer him to become guilty of gross immoralities and abominable crimes. It labours to expel from the temple of the heart whatever is displeasing in the sight of God, and endeavours to keep it swept and garnished for His reception (Psalms 19:12; Psalms 19:14),
3. His evil way and his evil thoughts forsaken, the penitent must next return unto the Lord, like the prodigal son in the parable.
II. A PROMISE OF PARDON. Upon the man who really obeys the exhortation God will have mercy, and will abundantly pardon him. Penitence is the indispensable pre-requisite to pardon. Not that it entitles any man to it (H. E. I. 4225–4228); but it qualifies us for it.
III. AN ENCOURAGEMENT TO LAY HOLD ON THE PROMISE (Isaiah 55:8-9). Before the truly penitent, their guilt often lies so clear and huge, that it seems to them that it would be presumption were they to hope for pardon. They are awe-stricken by the number of their sins, or by their enormity, or by the fact that they are the transgressions of backsliders. They feel that they could not forgive corresponding offenders and offences against themselves. See how the prophet answers them (Isaiah 55:8-9; H. E. I. 2331–2337.—Daniel Rees: Sermons, pp. 170–186.
I. The resemblance between God and man.
1. God has His “thoughts.” Multitudes of these have been manifested in creative works, providential events, the plan of salvation, &c. Man has his “thoughts.” He is always thinking, even when sleeping. Cannot prevent him from thinking. This is the grandeur of his nature.
2. God has His “ways”—His methods of working. So has man.
II. The difference between God and man in regard to thoughts and ways. Might be illustrated variously; the text limits us to pardon.
1. Men unwilling to pardon. God extremely willing.
2. Men disposed to pardon a few. God ready to pardon all.
3. Men inclined to pardon certain offences. God will blot out all iniquities.
4. Where are the men who make sacrifices to pardon? God, to pardon, gave His Son, &c.
III. This difference renders a moral change on the part of man necessary.
1. Unless he does so he cannot have fellowship with God. Two cannot walk together except they are agreed. God does not require to change, therefore man must change or be lost for ever.
2. If man returns to God, He will most mercifully deal with him. What encouragement!—A. M’Auslane, D.D.