Word of Salvation – Vol.04 No.52 – December 1958

 

God Moves In A Mysterious Way

 

New Year’s Eve Sermon by Rev. J. W. Deenick on Isaiah 28:23-29

Scripture: Psalm 90; Isaiah 28:23-29; Matthew 13:10-16

Hymns: 89; 90; 445; 455

 

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus,

The text says: God is wonderful in His counsel, excellent in His wisdom.

That is typically a New Year’s (Eve) problem.

Do we really believe the excellency and wisdom of God’s counsel, God’s planning?

Field Marshall Montgomery has been publishing his memoires.  One of his arguments is that no military campaign will ever be successful without sound planning.  You need a master plan before you begin, and you will have to stick to your plans.  From the very start you must keep in mind the goal for which you are heading.

Do we believe in God’s master plan?

And do we believe that God is working out His plan in a most excellent and wonderful way?

We look back at the year that passed, we look ahead at the year to come: do we trust God in this, that He could not have given us a better year than the one we had, and that He will give us the ‘best possible” in 1959?

You know, it is a nice hymn and we like singing it:
“God moves in a mysterious way,
His wonders to perform”, …and…
“His purposes will ripen fast,
unfolding every hour”
but the question is whether we truly believe that God is performing WONDERS, and working out PURPOSES.

There is another hymn, in which we sing:
“He leadeth me, O blessed thought
whatever I do, where-ever I be,
still ’tis God’s Hand that leadeth me”
Again a very nice hymn …and touching to tears.  But do we really believe that it is a blessed thought and does it truly give us any comfort to know that God’s Hand is leading us?

My troubles will still be troubles, no matter whether God is leading me or not.  My sorrow will still be sorrow no matter whether it came from God or not.  And my “bad luck” will still be “bad luck” no matter whether God leads me or not.

I have come to this country, I have a good income, but I would like to set up a home and a family.  If God’s Hand is leading me, He better lead me to the good Christian girl that I could marry.  Another year passed by without the solution of my problem.  We emigrated to this land five years ago.  We have had a lot of trouble, of sickness, of stupid misfortune.  I cannot see any wonderful planning behind it.

And apart from our individual problems: Who can explain to me the wonderful master plan that is behind the history of the nations and of the Kingdom of Heaven?  Just one example: For what excellent reason has a great nation as that of the Chinese been handed over into the horrifying power of its communist rulers?  If God is responsible for the course of the world’s history, and if God’s master plan aims at the victory of the Kingdom of Heaven, what then for heaven’s sake went wrong, that after so many centuries that victory seems further away than ever,

Let us face the facts: it is supreme foolishness to believe that the history of the world and the life of the individual man or woman is being planned wisely and being lead excellently.

This problem, of course, is not new.  It is as old as the world since the fall of man into sin.

The Jews in the Old Testament struggled with the same question but Isaiah is giving an answer in our text.  He is giving that answer by telling a parable.  Let us listen to this parable and let us see whether his answer solves our problem and satisfies our doubting mind.

Here it is:

The prophet introduces it solemnly: Give ear and hear my voice, hearken and hear my speech.  It is as if we hear the Lord Jesus Christ introducing one of his parables: Verily, verily I say unto you.  That means, there is something important to be expected.  A divine truth.

Does he, who ploughs for sowing, plough continually?  Does he continually open and harrow his ground?

Isaiah says: have you ever seen a farmer ploughing his fields all the year through?  No you have not.  A sensible farmer will surely plough his land, but at the right time, and as a preparation for the sowing of the seed.

After he finished opening and harrowing the ground, he will level its surface and go out for sowing.  He will scatter the dill, sow the cummin, put the wheat in rows and the barley in its proper place and spelt as the border.  (We are using here a new translation which is far clearer than the old Authorized Version).

Isaiah apparently knows what is happening on a farm during the year.  He says: sowing is a delicate work.  You cannot sow every seed in the same manner, in the same soil, at the same time.  You sow wheat in rows and spelt as a border.  That is the wisdom of the farmer.  He knows it from experience, but his wisdom is ultimately from God.  His God teaches him.  God gave him the discernment, the understanding of how to prepare for a great harvest.  Because, that is his master plan.  He is planning a harvest.  And when reaping time comes, our farmer is at his best.  He is cutting down his crop, or he is pulling it out, just as is needed, and in different ways he breaks and bruises the grain.  In harvest time especially he will need his discernment.

The one crop needs a totally different treatment than the other.  Dill is beaten out with a stick and so is cummin.  But for wheat he will use the threshing sledge, pulled by his horses over the threshing floor.  He will be careful however.

It should not be overdone.  He will not thresh it for ever.  He knows his limit, and the result crowns his labours.

When threshing time is over and the crop stored up in the barn, psalm 126 will become true again: weeping he went forth bearing the seed for sowing, but with shouts of joy he came home bringing his sheaves with him.

All this comes from the Lord of hosts.  He is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.

– – – – – – – – – –

That is the parable.

And here is its explanation.

The Lord God is the great Farmer and the world is His farm.

He is preparing for harvest.  That is the purpose of all His work.  He is planning a far-off result.  He is growing the crop that He desires, and He knows when it is time to plough, or time to sow, time to reap or time to thresh.

The world is not a jungle, it is cultivated ground.  And the divine Farmer is directing all His movements and activities to the great purpose of the day of salvation.

Of course, that purpose needs a great variety of processes.  He ploughs the ground as a preparation for sowing the seed of the gospel.  He sows the seed in different ways according to the fruit he desires.  He cuts down the grain or pulls out the crop as the need may be and in threshing the fruit he knows how to act in the one case and how in the other.  In the end the result will “justify the means”.

That is the truth of the parable.

We should trust the heavenly Farmer.

He knows His trade.  He knows how to prepare for eternal fruit in the life of a man, in the life of a nation.  He knows how to plant faith in a woman’s heart, and how to plant the church in Japan.  He knows how to gather the fruits of faith, love and hope in Latin America, and how to bring up a Chinese boy for Christian witness.

He knows even how to teach an Australian immigrant to yield the fruit of a Christian life of forgiveness and patience.

But surely such fruits need preparation.  A lot of ploughing and a lot of threshing.  And it needs planning.

Imagine: US bringing up the fruit of the lips that profess His name.  That needs steadfast and purposeful nursing, and sound, solid threshing, before WE yield worthwhile fruit, before the Kingdom of heaven is gaining ground in that home of ours.

No wonder that the Farmer in heaven needs a great variety of ways when He treats men and women, boys and girls, gentlemen and “wharfies”.  A millionaire is being converted in a different way than a paper boy.  But God knows the treatment and He will work out His counsel.  Wonderful is His counsel, excellent is His wisdom.

– – – – – – – – – –

Here we return to the question, brothers and sisters, whether this parable and its truth is helping us?

At the end of this year and at the beginning of 1959 we must learn to trust the Lord God in His work, in His ways with us, in His ways with the world.

Is this parable helping us therein, that we better accept the frustrations of life, the disappointments, the sorrows, the genuine trials the hidden tears?  Are we now prepared to trust God, and to say:
“He leadeth me, O blessed thought,
…whatever I do, wherever I be, He leadeth me”
“Content, whatever lot I see, since ’tis my God that leadeth me.”

Are we prepared to trust God like that?
I am afraid we are not.
Unless we give up our unbelief.

– – – – – – – – – –

Let this be perfectly clear among us: there is no comfort in parables for unbelief, and the doubter will still doubt.  Even the parables of the Lord Jesus were of no help to the unbelieving crowds.  On the contrary, when Jesus started to teach through parables they began to leave Him.  Then Jesus said to his disciples: I am preaching through parables to YOU, not to THEM.  For YOU have believed, that I am the Christ, but THEY have rejected me.  THEY do not understand the parables, because they cannot understand the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven.  But YOU will under- stand them.  Verily, I say unto you, to him who has, shall more be given, but from him who has not, even what he has shall be taken away.  You have faith.  More shall be given you.  Through the parables you shall better understand the secrets of Gods kingdom.  But the unbeliever will be hardened in his unbelief.  The parables will make the gospel the more unacceptable to him.

This was true of the parables of Jesus.
It is true just as much of this parable of Isaiah.

The unbeliever will still ask his critical questions.  Why cannot your divine Farmer cultivate the whole world, and make every man a fruit bearer?  If your Farmer is so perfectly wise, merciful and gracious, why does He not save everyman?  Is the great harvest a great success when most of the crop does not yield any fruit whatever?  Is God’s victory really glorious, when Satan’s victims will be far more numerous, than Jesus!  disciples?  Moreover, why is it necessary for God to save His children through such horrifying means… through leprosy and insanity, cancer and social distress.  Is such ploughing and threshing really necessary before He can manage to let us yield fruit?  Sorry, your parable is nice, but it does not help me much.  Your Farmer seems just as unacceptable to me

– – – – – – – – – –

That is what unbelief will continue to feel.  But what about the believer?

Will this parable be of any help to him?

At the end of an old and the beginning of a new year we need encouragement, comfort and help.  We need to learn how we trust God unreservedly.  How will this parable help us?

In no other way than this: it will preach to us again, that we shall live by faith alone, and that we will never be able to understand God, to explain God, or to justify God.

The mystery of the kingdom of heaven is still a mystery.  And the mystery of God’s providential rule is still a mystery, even after this parable.

But it is the mystery, the secret, the hidden truth, the unseen promise, which we believe.

By faith alone do we live.
By faith alone we accept every year of our life, and every year in the history of the world as a year of the Lord, as a day of work for the great Farmer, Who is aiming at His final harvest.

By faith alone we understand that God is justified in using the means of His good pleasure, in using Satan even, for His final purpose.

By faith alone we acknowledge that God is perfectly wise in giving every man his own life, his own troubles, his own joy, his own salvation.

By faith alone we trust that 1958 was the most excellent year we could have got, and that 59 will be just as great, because God does not make mistakes and knows how to deal with a man, and how to deal with the world.

By faith alone we learn to say:
“ye, fearful saints, fresh courage take,
the clouds ye so much dread,
are full with mercy and shall break
in blessings on your head”

By faith alone we will understand the hymn:
“Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine,
nor ever murmur nor repine,
content whatever lot I see,
since ’tis my God that leadeth me”.

By faith alone I will make this hymn mine own:
“I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless,
ills have no weight and tears no bitterness –
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.”

By faith alone.
Because faith is humble.
And faith does not s peak against God, but is trusting Him and Him alone.

For He is wonderful in His counsel and excellent in His wisdom.

Amen.

(This sermon may be read round about
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day)