Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III 
Sermon Synopsis 12/8/24

Isaiah 55:8-13 NKJV 
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, 
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. 
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, 
So are My ways higher than your ways, 
And My thoughts than your thoughts. 
10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, 
And do not return there, 
But water the earth, 
And make it bring forth and bud, 
That it may give seed to the sower 
And bread to the eater, 
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; 
It shall not return to Me void, 
But it shall accomplish what I please, 
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 
12 “For you shall go out with joy, 
And be led out with peace; 
The mountains and the hills 
Shall break forth into singing before you, 
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, 
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; 
And it shall be to the Lord for a name, 
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

       I.               INTRODUCTION

1. It’s amazing how many people question God. As you grow in relationship with God, it gets clearer to you, that God knows what exactly what He is doing.
2. When you’ve gone through enough, you realize that God knows what He’s doing. You embrace Romans 8:28 (NKJV) even more when it says, “28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
3. You might not understand what goes on in your life, but it is clear that God knows what He is doing.
4. Everything created was created with words. God spoke it into existence and it was. Just like it was back then, you have the assurance that God has everything under control. You will begin to give God glory for the things that He fixed that you couldn’t! You begin to give God glory for the ways he made for you, when you could not do it for yourself.
5. Many have heard the text where God says, His ways is not like our ways and His thoughts are not like our thoughts. In the scripture today, we see that God’s people were experiencing great trauma by Nebuchadnezzar II.
   1. He destroyed their homeland.
   1. He took the educated captive and left the uneducated behind.
6. In Babylon, people of God struggled with their identity and God’s allowing this to happen to.
7. They wondered how God would allow them to be in a polytheistic culture.
   1. They were monotheistic meaning that they worshiped the one and true living God. Polytheism is the worship of several Gods. It was confusing to see their captors worshipping idol Gods.
8. Israel and Judea split. A house divided cannot stand, so the Assyrians took this opportunity to assault them. After that, the Babylonians attacked them and put them in captivity.  Isaiah 45:1-7 (NKJV) says 1 “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: 2 ‘I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel. 4 For Jacob My servant’s sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. 5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me.I will gird you, though you have not known Me, 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; 7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity;I, the LORD, do all these things.’- Cyrus, used by God, took over Babylon. He overtakes the Children of Israel’s oppressor.
9. After defeating Babylon, he wrote a decree ordering that the captors to be released. They were celebrating Cyrus, but all along, God was moving. God was up to something in the background, when they thought God had abandoned them..
   1. Somebody today is experiencing something painful in their life. If you are alive, you have to know that God’s plan is still at work in your life!
10. What is certain, you will come back with peace and everyone will celebrate your return.

   II.               YOU MUST LEARN HIS WAYS

• Never downgrade the thoughts of God to fit your mind. Gods’ perspective is much bigger than ours. Our understanding is limited.
• The Divine distinction is to know that we must trust God, knowing that His thoughts are much higher than ours. Can you give God glory for knowing that even when we don’t understand what God is doing, we know that He has everything under control?
• We might not understand the how or the why, but we do understand the Who.
• How do we get here?

A.    God Is Sovereign 

1. Everything that happens in the universe, God has a say in it. He is under no authority to anyone, but Himself.
2. God’s sovereignty is due to the fact that He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.

B.    God Is Omniscient

1. This means God is all knowing. It implies that God is aware of everything that happens in the universe. Nothing escapes God. Nothing catches Him by surprise.

C.   God is Omnipresent

1. How can someone know everything, if they are not everywhere? God is everywhere.
   1. Have you seen air? The answer is no, but you know it is there. The fact that you can feel it, lets you know it is there. Psalms 139:7-10 (NKJV) says 7 Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? 8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. 9 If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,10 Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. – Like the air, you don’t see God, but you can feel that He is there.
2. God is everywhere. Take Sunlight for instance. It shines and it gives warmth. You know it’s there, because of the warmth that you feel. This is how the omnipresent works.
3. When you touch God, you can feel the warmth even though you can’t see Him physically. His presence in our life is the very essence of who He is!
   1. Wherever you are, there’s where God is!

D.   God is Omnipotent

1. Omnipotent is one who has unlimited power and authority.
2. God has already ended stuff, before it was started. God did not begin with the beginning. He began the beginning!
3. Before the universe began, God was eternal. Before creation, he was the Creator. Before there was love He was love, before wisdom, He was all knowing!
4. God can move in one season, and you might not understand it. Months later, as everything plays out, you begin to understand, because you realize that God saw further down the road than you did.
   1. It’s like going to the movie. Ex: Bishop took his daughter to the movies, who is impatient. She began to get upset, because of the previews. She wanted to know why they had to watch the previews.
   1. Bishop explained they were meant to stimulate us. You have previews and reviews. Lots of times, reviews are being written on a movie we are just now watching, because they have already seen it and how it turns out. Just like this, God has written the review, when you are just receiving the preview. Can you give God glory for the review?
5. The review means that we must lean on his word.

III.               YOU HAVE TO LEAN ON HIS WORD

• We lean on something based off of past experience. For example, we sit on the chair, assuming it will hold us up based off of past experience.
  • In like manner, when you walk with God long enough, you feel He can hold you up, because He has before.
• Isaiah equates the word of God with the rain. It means that his word is reliable. It never fails.

A.    His Word Is Reliable 

1. When the rain comes down, it comes at the right time at the right place. Rain serves a purpose.
2. The word of God is the rain. It comes down at the right time at the right place. For example, you can be going through something and you come to church, and your pastor preaches about what you are going through.
3. The rain:
   1. Contributes to your growth
   1. Covers the Ground
   1. Cleans the ground

B.    His Word Always Produces Through Process 

1. When the seed is stimulated by the rain. God stimulates the seed in you. The word stimulates the seed.
2. When you study, that’s the seed in you. The seed is in you and the word coming from your pastor is the rain. It stimulates the seed in you. With confirmation and alignment, it stimulates the seed to produce a bud. The bud will produce a blade and after that, eventually you have fruit. Fruit is the end game, the blessing.
3. Many of you have not learned how to thank God for the bud. Evidence the the fruit is coming, is in the bud. Some people get upset, because you don’t have the job or car you want yet. God wants to know if you have a bud praise! Can you praise him before you get the job, the car, or the house!

IV.               YOU SHOULD LET HIM WORK

A.    God Doesn’t Waste Words 

1. The word that goes out of his mouth doesn’t return to him void.
2. If you will notice, the people that are not involved usually have the most to say.

B.    God Delivers On His Promises 

1. God is not a man who will lie. God will always deliver on His promise. When God said let there be light, that’s exactly what happened.
2. One word from God will change your whole situion.

  V.               YOU WILL LEAVE ANOTHER WAY

A.    I’m Coming Out With Praise And Peace 

1. Joy and peace. Everything around you is about to celebrate what is about to happen in your house.
2. What is a cypress tree? They are sturdy and resilient, able to handle different environments. They are resistant to insects, and they don’t rot. The fact that that the children of Israel were equated to this type of tree says the experiences that happened to them could have caused them to be broken down, but they stood strong. We all because we are a cypress tree.
3. The Myrtle Tree doesn’t grow as tall. It is known because of its flexibility. It doesn’t snap under pressure like other trees.
4. When you are a Myrtle tree, you can be on your job and when they get on yours nerves, you will be able to say, “You better be glad that I am a Myrtle Tree!”.

B.    It Won’t Turn Out The Way The Enemy Wanted 

1. One tree has strength, the other has flexibility. It is important, because either way, you will get out with joy!
2. Isreal had been taken captive. It was a time of trauma and loss. When Cyrus comes through, he tells them that they can go back home and rebuild. You can’t go back and rebuild broken so this is why you will go back with joy and peace.
3. What is joy? Happiness is determined by external stimuli, meaning something has to happen in order for you to be happy. Joy is an internal revelation based on the inside, without regard of what happened. Joy is there because God put it there. You have joy, because you know that God will deliver even when you don’t see it. You have joy, because of who God is. You have joy, because you know that God knows what he is doing!