"Get Out of God's Way"

Get Out Of God’s Way

Matthew 16:13-23 (AMP)

  Now when Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  14  And they answered, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.”  15  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  16  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed), the Son of the living God.”  17  Then Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood (mortal
man) did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  18  And I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades (death) will not overpower it [by preventing the resurrection of the Christ].  19  I will give you the key (authority) of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.”  20  Then He gave the disciples strict orders to tell no one that He was the Christ 21 From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and endure many things at the hands of the elders and the chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised [from death to life] on the third day.  22  Peter took Him

aside [to speak to Him privately] and began to reprimand Him, saying, “May God forbid it! This will never happen to You.”  23  But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on things of God, but on things of man.”

Has there ever been a time when you truly believed you were doing the right thing, only to discover that you were wrong?

Maybe you took on a responsibility that God had not given you, or perhaps you tried to avoid a situation He wanted to use in your life to accomplish His purpose. Even when we sincerely desire to follow the Lord, we may unknowingly veer off course and become an obstacle to His purposes. That’s why it’s so important to seek the Lord’s guidance before we try to maneuver our way out of a difficult situation or rush in to fix a problem. Our plans often seem logical, reasonable, or compassionate, but if they don’t align with the Lord’s will, we are just getting in His way.

That leads us to the title of this sermon… Get Out Of God’s Way

You Ready… Let’s Go

In Matthew 16:13-23, Jesus wanted His disciples to know two important truths: (1) that He was the Messiah, and (2) that His death was necessary for the atonement of mankind’s sin.

Peter understood the first one when he boldly proclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (v. 16), but he couldn’t comprehend the second truth because it didn’t fit with his preconceived plan. The disciples had left everything to follow Jesus, not to watch Him die. At this pivotal point in Christ’s ministry, He began to show His disciples that He had to go to Jerusalem,
experience great suffering, be killed, and be raised up on the third day (vv. 21-23). To Peter, this seemed like an impossibility so he pulled Jesus aside saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You” (v. 22). But what seemed so logical to Peter resulted in a severe rebuke from Jesus, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interest, but man’s” (v. 23). Peter was actually opposing the Lord’s redemptive plan with his human reasoning. Here is Peter getting in God’s way, attempting to tell Jesus that he was wrong.

We are really no different from Peter because we too can be guilty of putting our own interests ahead of Christ’s.

We may get in God’s way if . . .

We are ignorant of God’s ways

We tend to think that we are in God’s will when life is pleasant, but that we’ve somehow missed it if we experience adversity of some kind. But His will does not always include happiness, health, good times, and prosperity. The Lord doesn’t think or act like we do.

 God instructs you to do something you don’t like

 You think you know more than God; your way easier

 You don’t trust Him in every area of your life

 Questioning God is not a sin; being disobedient is

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NLT)

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9  For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

If we don’t understand what He’s doing, we may wonder how a loving God could let us experience difficult or painful situations, yet oftentimes these are exactly what He uses to shape our character into Christ’s image. By misunderstanding the nature of His love and denying that His plan could ever include pain or hardship, we are actually getting in His way. Example Joseph

We are prompted by sincere devotion and loyalty to intervene when someone is hurting or suffering When you see someone hurting or in need, do you rush in to help? Not so fast! While our intentions are often good, we may be unknowingly hindering God’s work. It’s difficult to watch people suffer, especially loved ones. Our immediate desire is to fix the situation in the natural.
Our protective love may actually hinder what the Lord wants to do in the other person’s life in the supernatural. This calls for discernment because Christians should help and care for one another, yet our priority is to follow God’s will. We can’t rescue everyone from trouble, but we can help them by seeking the Lord on their behalf. Instead of us providing relief or healing, we should ask the Lord to keep them faithful, submissive, and humble until He accomplishes what He desires in their lives. 

Give example of children

 It is not your responsibility to fix every problem

 If you do, you become an enabler instead of a helper

 At some point in time, we all reap what we sow

 Life is about choices and decisions

 There are consequences and repercussions

 If you hit your head enough times, you will figure out it hurts. Don’t believe fat meat is greasy

 We have to learn to pray; let go and let God!

We have a strong tendency to take up another’s offense

When we see someone being mistreated or misused, we may want to do whatever we can to right the wrong, but the Lord could be working in that person’s life through the unfair situation. When you get in God’s way and what He is doing in someone else’s life, you are headed for trouble. You get the pressure. God has to deal with us, so He can achieve His purpose in the other person’s life.

 Life ain’t fair, but God is the ultimate Equalizer

 We have to learn to mind our own business

 Not get emotional and get into something that is not our battle to fight; not our cross to carry

 Then God has to put us in check cause we trying to do His job

Proverbs 26:17 (NLT)

Interfering in someone else’s argument is as foolish as yanking a dog’s ears.

 The wise avoid getting involved in others arguments

1 Thessalonians 4:11 (NLT)

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before.

Close

We can’t rescue everybody. We can’t even rescue ourselves. We have to trust God to work in theirs and our lives to fit us to do and accomplish what He has in mind. So we can all get in God’s way, but we don’t want to do that. Just remember this… If this is someone’s problem here and you get between them and God, you suffer the consequences.