God Likes It Straight - Pastor Stacey Shiflett

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God Likes It Straight

Matt. 3:1-12

Intro: There was a man sent from God whose name was John. (John 1:6)

He was not the Christ, but he was sent to bear witness.

SEE John 1:19-23

John had a very specific ministry.

His ministry involved preaching and preparing the way for Jesus Christ.

This was the fulfilment of Isaiah 40:3-11

NOTE: Notice what John the Baptist was NOT concerned about in Matthew 3.

He was not concerned about:

· Fame – vs. 1 he was preaching in the wilderness; no glamour there

· Fun – vs. 2 preaching on repentance was not received well; Herod killed him for it

· Food – vs. 4 he ate locust and wild honey (unlike the gluttons of today in our pulpits)

· Fine clothes – vs. 4 he wore camel’s hair and a leather girdle

· Fellowship – vs. 7-12 – when many of the Pharisees and Sadducees showed up, he called them vipers.

· Friends - He definitely wasn’t in the ministry to make friends with everybody.

He didn’t care if he was the only one preaching repentance – that didn’t affect him at all.

So why did John the Baptist preach? What was he concerned about?

· It was for Fruit – vs. 8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:”

As I began to study this out, I discovered several things.

One thing is clear to me in these verses: GOD LIKES IT STRAIGHT!

A. Straight Paths

All four Gospels tell us that John’s message was MAKE HIS PATH STRAIGHT.

All four Gospel’s give this account. (Matthew 3:3; Mark 1:3; Luke 3:4, and John 1:23.

· Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

· Isaiah 42:16 And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

· Isaiah 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.

B. Straight Preaching

· 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

RIGHTLY DIVIDING – to cut straight; to proceed on straight paths, hold a straight course, equiv. to doing right; to make straight and smooth, to handle aright, to teach the truth directly and correctly

Isaiah 28

· 9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.

10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Nehemiah 8

· 4 And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose…

· 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:

· 6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

· 8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

God likes straight preaching because it…

· Expounds Doctrine

· Establishes Direction

· Eliminates Differences

· Encourages Dedication

· Exposes Disobedience

· Enforces Discipline

God likes straight preaching because it…

• Reproves our Wicked Heart

• Redirects our Wandering Heart

• Refreshes our Withering Heart

• Rekindles our Waning Heart

It is demanded because it:

• Reveals to us the Ways of God

• Reminds us of the Word of God

• Removes off of us the Wrath of God

• Reinforces to us the Will of God

C. Straight People

I believe with all my heart that it will take STRAIGHT PREACHING to produce STRAIGHT PEOPLE!

· Philippians 2:15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

The unsaved world is a crooked people.

Proverbs 2

· 13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

· 14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;

· 15 Whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths:

1. They are crooked in their DOINGS.

2. They are crooked in their DEALINGS.

3. They are crooked in their DELIBERATIONS.

4. They are crooked in their DECLARATIONS.

We live in the midst of a CROOKED AND PERVERSE NATION.

God wants us to be different!

If we are going to be different from a crooked and perverse people, we must be a straight people!!

Proverbs 4

· 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

· 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

· 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.

So why did God place so much emphasis on John’s message of making the path straight?

I. The Resistance that is Removed - Prepare ye the way of the Lord – vs. 3

There is an enormous amount of preparation that is involved in making His path straight.

Isaiah 40:3 – God wants a highway; raised road; causeway

· Isaiah 40:4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

Making a straight road involves:

A. Destination – where are you planning to go?

The course must be charted; where are you trying to go?

B. Deliberation – what is the best way to get there?

The most direct route is the best way.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.

C. Determination – there will be many challenges

To bring forth fruit, there will be a lot of emphasis placed on preparation.

· Preparing the soil for the seed.

· Preparing the Gospel of peace (Ephesians 6)

· Preparing the hearts to receive the truth.

· Preparing people for eternity – Amos 4:12“…prepare to meet thy God…”

· Preparing young people for life.

· Preparing God’s people for Christian service.

· Preparing churches to reach the world.

D. Devastation – trees, stumps, rocks, etc. (any obstacles for progress must be removed)

· Jeremiah 23:29 Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?

NOTE: Rivers and creeks are crooked because water takes the path of least resistance.

· Acts 7:51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye.

II. The Route that is Revealing

One of the reasons why God likes His path to be straight is:

A. You can see where you are – His Word is a mirror

James 1

· 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:

· 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

· 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.

B. You can see where you are going – God’s people have promises to those that obey truth

C. You can see where you’ve been – so you don’t forget the faith once delivered

III. The Relationship that is Rewarding – vs. 5 and vs. 10, 11

· 5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

· 10 Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him.

· 11 He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.

If you want to walk with God, you will have to walk a STRAIGHT path.

God is not going to take a path that is crooked and weaves in and out and back and forth.

God likes it STRAIGHT!

God’s people are to walk a STRAIGHT path.