God’s Way Not Our Way
An all-creatures Bible Message

God’s Way Not Our Way

A Sermon Delivered to
The Compassion Internet Church

12 January 2020

Frank L. Hoffman, Pastor

Scripture References

Psalm 29:1-11
Isaiah 42:1-9
Matthew 3:13-17

God’s way not our way is the reverse of the way that most people live in this world, which is evident by the fact that the world is full of violence and corruption which is responsible for causing millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.

A lot of the problem rests with the fact that most people are complacent and indifferent to the ungodly ways of this world.

Most people seem to support revenge against terrorists whether they are individuals or nations which actually only causes more violence and warring madness in the world.

Most people enjoy eating and wearing something that came from the tortured remains of some innocent animal, and they even go so far as to distort the Bible into saying that God put these animals here for us to use them in this manner.

We need to conform our ways to God’s way.

Let’s take a look at Psalm 29:1-11 and see what it says about God’s way not our way.

1. Ascribe to the LORD, O sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

The Lord is our rock and salvation, but knowing this is not the same as trusting in the Lord to give us the strength to peacefully live for God in this corrupt world.

2. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due to His name;
Worship the LORD in holy array.

We shouldn’t consider that holy array is fine clothing that we wear to our houses of worship, rather it is being immersed in the heavenly glory of God that all true born again believers should have.

And we can see that “holy array” in people whose everyday lives reflect that same holy array that they present in their houses of worship, for this is the only true holy array.

We believe that because so many people, including Christians, are not living this way, is the reason that there is so much violence and corruption in the world, which is responsible for causing millions of humans and billions of animals to suffer and die every year.

3. The voice of the LORD is upon the waters;
The God of glory thunders,
The LORD is over many waters.

4. The voice of the LORD is powerful,
The voice of the LORD is majestic.

5. The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
Yes, the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

Yes the Lord is powerful, and many people know this, but relatively few of them really believe in His word and trust Him to guide them in His heavenly will.

6. And He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
And Sirion like a young wild ox.

7. The voice of the LORD hews out flames of fire.

8. The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
The LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

9. The voice of the LORD makes the deer to calve,
And strips the forests bare,
And in His temple everything says, "Glory!"

We can believe or not believe that the Lord can do all these things, and a lot of people can say, glory, but as we have been saying, most people don’t live it, which is the reason the world remains so corrupt.

If we really want to end the corruption of this world, we need to be the peacemaking children of God that He calls us to be.

10. The LORD sat as King at the flood;
Yes, the LORD sits as King forever.

If the Lord is our king, then we should be following His edicts instead of the ways that the vast majority of people seem to be following in the ways of the devil in this corrupt world.

11. The LORD will give strength to His people;
The LORD will bless His people with peace.
NASB

I can feel the Lord strengthening me to carry out His work, but the reason we don’t have peace is because the vast majority of the people reject the ways of the Lord in favor of the corrupt ways of the world which reflect the ways of the devil and his minion.

Now, let’s look at Isaiah 42:1-9…

1. "Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold;
My chosen one in whom My soul delights.
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the nations.

This is a prophecy that Bible scholars believe was written by a second Isaiah, but no matter who wrote these words, they seem to point to only one individual, Jesus, who is the only person who these qualities seem to fit.

2. "He will not cry out or raise His voice,
Nor make His voice heard in the street.

Jesus did speak to the multitudes, and since they had no amplification systems in those days He did have to raise His voice to be heard, but He never did it to call attention to Himself, which is what we believe the writer is referring to.

3. "A bruised reed He will not break,
And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish;
He will faithfully bring forth justice.

Jesus was a peacemaker as well as a righteous Judge, unlike most of the political leaders of the time.

4. "He will not be disheartened or crushed,
Until He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law."

And this happened then, and it is still happening today, even if most people are still living in the corrupt ways of the world.

5. Thus says God the LORD,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread out the earth and its offspring,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk in it,

God did create everything and everyone, but only a relatively small percentage follow His heavenly will in their everyday lives, and they are the only ones to be filled with His Holy Spirit.

6. "I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness,
I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you,
And I will appoint you as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the nations,

We don’t believe that this refers to Jesus as much as it does to those of us who live in His heavenly will here on earth as it is in heaven as a witness to the world, for only these people are a light to the nations.

7. To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the dungeon,
And those who dwell in darkness from the prison.

In a physical sense this applies mostly to Jesus, for He gave sight to the blind, but in a spiritual sense, this refers to both Jesus and those who are truly His disciples, for we all should be able to help people who are spiritually blind see the truth, even it they don’t accept it, but it they do accept it, they are no longer prisoners to sin and the corrupt and evil ways of this world.

8. "I am the LORD, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.

If we accept the Lord to be who He says He is, then we need to live in His heavenly will and reject the corrupt things and ways of this world.

One of most believers’ problems is that they create or turn something into an object that they put before the heavenly will of God and expect the Lord to bless it, and as verse 8 says, He won’t do it; we need to conform to God’s way; He is not going to conform to our ways.

9. "Behold, the former things have come to pass,
Now I declare new things;
Before they spring forth I proclaim them to you."
NASB

And this pertains to our lives, too, for we need to remove the corrupt things and ways of this world from our lives and adorn ourselves in the ways of God, that is, if we really want to be His peacemaking children.

Let’s conclude or discussion on God’s way not our way by looking at Matthew 3:13-17…

13. Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him.

14. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?"

John is arguing with Jesus because he doesn’t understand that what Jesus is asking is God’s way.

15. But Jesus answering said to him, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he permitted Him.

Once John understood, he agreed.

He wasn’t so fixed in his way, that he couldn’t see that it wasn’t God’s way, which is what I wish most people in the world would do, for if they did, we would very likely be living in a vegan world and have real peace.

16. And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him,

17. and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."
NASB

This is God’s way not our way.

Amen?

Amen.

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