God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways

Matthew 3:1-11
Isaiah 55:6-11

Jim Davis

God has always done things different than the world does them. One reason God does this is so that we might see his power. God defied the ways of the world when the Hebrews were led out of Egyptian slavery. However, when he accomplished his purpose the world had no doubt about the supremacy of the God leading the Hebrews. God wants the world to know when he accomplishes his purpose. What better way to do this than defy the ways of the world? He wants the world to take note that it is truly God accomplishing the task. 

God wants us to understand the difference he makes. God chooses to reveal himself to the world in such a way that the world may know him and be drawn to him. He is not out to simply accomplish a task. He wants to accomplish it in such a way that the world will take note. If God had done those things as the world does them, they would have never seen the one behind what was happening.

God's ways have always defied the ways of the world. When the Israelites marched on Jericho, God defied the ways of the world. Marching around the walls for seven days, and shouting and blowing the trumpets to make the walls collapse defied the ways of the world. The world would have laid siege to the city to starve the inhabitants out. Then the world would have used ladders to scale the walls of the city. God did it his way.  God's way revealed his power. God left no doubt as to who brought down the walls of Jericho.

Isaiah 55:6-11
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: (NIV)

God's Way Requires Changing our Ways

God’s ways are different because he wants us to change our ways. The message of God’s kingdom is much different than the message of the world. The message of the kingdom may be much different than the message the modern church. The message of the kingdom of Christ may be different than the message you have accepted to direct your life. 

Matthew 3:1-8
In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: "A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.'" John's clothes were made of camel's hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. (NIV)

John the Baptist came proclaiming the message of God saying repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. The message of repentance is a message that forces us to change our minds about how things ought to be done. It forces us to choose God's way or the world's way?

Repentance is the simple message of Christ’s kingdom. John was pleading with those listening to accept God's way for their lives. That is the simple message of repentance---God's way vs. your way. In repentance we must recognize God’s way for our lives. Repentance requires us to renounce the ways of the world for the purpose of allowing God to direct our lives. 

John told the Pharisees and the Sadducees that their ways were not the ways of God.

Matthew 3:7-10
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (NIV)

When you are trying to turn your life around, you need to know that God's power is sufficient. John had a powerful way of telling them that God’s way was not their way. Imagine, children of Abraham rising up from the stones lying on the bank of the Jordan River. This was a poignant way of telling the Pharisees and Sadducees that God’s way was much different than their way. However, God's way was powerful enough to bring stones to life.

The Pharisees and Sadducees ancestral pride caused them to lose sight of God. The Jews had become so orthodox in keeping God's law that they lost sight of God’s ways. The scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees had developed all kinds of interpretations of scripture that were misleading and confusing. Their ways left them powerless to change their world. They needed to know that God could give life to stones.

Jesus derided the scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees because of the impotence of their teaching.  "One of the experts in the law answered him, "Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also." Jesus replied, "And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them." (Luke 11:45-46 NIV) A religion that leaves us helpless to bear the burdens we place upon others is impotent.

Often crucial biblical teaching is reduced to a lifeless set of church ordinances. Confession, repentance, baptism and communion they become nothing more than ordinances essential for church membership. We may obey the ordinances, but have we recognized God’s way for our lives. We may do that in this church. What impact do the things we do here at this church have on the direction of your life? Are they leading us into God’s powerful way of living?

God’s Way Is The Better Way 

When God led the children of Israel out of Egypt, they were told that the way of the world was not God’s way.

Leviticus 18:1-5
The LORD said to Moses, "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'I am the LORD your God. You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live, and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Do not follow their practices. You must obey my laws and be careful to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God.  Keep my decrees and laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD. (NIV)

The story of the Bible is about how we are called upon to the renounce the world’s way for God’s way. When Paul preached Christ in the city of Ephesus, the Ephesians came to Christ confessing and forsaking the way of the world. They came to Christ because they recognized the difference God makes.

Acts 19:13-16
Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (NIV)

Acts 19:17-20
When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. (NIV)

The Ephesians recognized the difference between what Paul was doing and what the exorcist were doing. They literally burnt the books, which they used to direct their lives in the world’s way of doing things. Do we have any books that we need to burn today?

Luke also records the story of John’s preaching. He gives us some insight as to what those listening to John's message of repentance were thinking. They ask questions about what they should do. John's answer reveals the very nature of repentance. 

Luke 3:10-14
"What should we do then?" the crowd asked. John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same." Tax collectors also came to be baptized. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely-- be content with your pay." (NIV)

God’s ways require us to forsake our wicked ways. Isaiah writes, “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.” God’s way requires a change in direction that is evidenced by the fruits of repentance. 

The ways of God exposes the world's way as a way of sin. 

Galatians 5:19-26
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (NIV)

Selfishness, cheating, adultery, anger, hatred, pride and such like are the ways of the world. In Psalms 25, we hear David as he cries the cry of true repentance.

Psalms 25:1-2
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; 
 in you I trust, O my God. 

Show me your ways, O LORD,
teach me your paths; 
guide me in your truth and teach me,
for you are God my Savior,
and my hope is in you all day long.  (NIV)

God's ways are higher because they lead to life. The world's way leads to death. The choice is yours.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (NIV)

The way of the world is a way that brings the kind of sorrow that leads to death. Paul says, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death" (2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV). Solomon writes, "He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy. Blessed is the man who always fears the LORD, but he who hardens his heart falls into trouble" (Proverbs 28:13-14 NIV). 

Psalms 56:13
For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life. (NIV)

Acts 11:17-18
So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?" When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life." (NIV)

We Must Agree with God's Way

There can be no repentance without recognizing our personal sin. Those listening to John's message came confessing their sin. John didn’t hesitate to point out sin. John called the Pharisees and Sadducees a brood of vipers. "But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance." Have you ever heard someone call another person "A snake in the grass?" Maybe this is where this saying originated.

Confession forces us to accept God's assessment of our lives. Confession is absolutely essential for repentance. Confession goes beyond confessing Jesus as the Christ; it forces us to confess our sins. Confession forces us to face our sinfulness and our need to repent. The hardest part of repentance is confessing your sin. 

Romans 3:10-19
As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; 
there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one."
"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips."
"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."
"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
ruin and misery mark their ways,
and the way of peace they do not know."
"There is no fear of God before their eyes."
Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. (NIV)

Romans 3:22-23
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (NIV)

In confessing our sin we come into agreement with God's assessment of our lives. Confession is the only action that can bring us to repentance. John wanted them to recognize and confess their sins.

1 John 1:8-10
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (NIV)

Psalms 32:5
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah (NIV)

In confession we agree with God's assessment of our lives, but it is repentance that aligns our lives with God's purposes. God requires that the acts of the sinful nature must be replaced with the fruits of repentance.

Ephesians 4:22-24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (NIV)

Repentance calls for radical surgery as it calls us to be recreated in God's image.  "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.' But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell" (Matthew 5:27-30 NIV).

John told the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to him to "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."  Repentance goes beyond cleansing our lives of evil. The purpose of repentance is more than merely emptying our lives of evil; we must produce the fruits of repentance. Seeking to rid our lives of evil without replacing the evil with good will make us a sevenfold child of hell.

Matthew 12:43-45
"When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation." (NIV)

Conclusion:

God's word is designed to achieve God's purposes. God's word is designed to reveal God's ways and thoughts so we can identify and respond to his working in our lives. It is given to us to meditate upon his ways. 

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. (NIV)

Through repentance we make ourselves available to God. Mark says that John "preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins" (Mark 1:4). Isaiah says, “Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” 

Grace gives us what we don’t deserve.

Mercy provides the means to live up to God’s call.

Peter preached the message of repentance on Pentecost. Repentance goes beyond baptism as it embraces the life of Christ.

Acts 2:36-39
"Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ." When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off-- for all whom the Lord our God will call." (NIV)

God is working all around us to turn people from sin. He is not willing that any should perish, but he desires that we come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

(This sermon leans heavily upon Henry T. Blackaby's and Roy T. Edgemon's book The Ways of God, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 2000.)