Text: Matthew 3:1–12
Topic: Knowing the kind of life that pleases God

• Illustration: Miller describes his process of sorting the recycling from the garbage.

• I have the hard job of telling you a hard truth: God is a God who sorts—only he does it with human lives.
• God is looking for whatever he can keep, build on, use, and bless.
• Maybe this understanding of God upsets you, because you think it's the most barbaric doctrine you've ever heard; but this understanding of God is a clear and repeated teaching of the Bible—of both Judaism and Christianity.
• There are some lives that please God and other lives that are useless to him.
• Consider the words of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:10–12.
• God is a God who sorts human lives, looking for—and hoping to find—lives that are "keepers."
• It's not his will that anyone should live his or her life in such a way that they end up in the spiritual trashcan, but some will, because their lives offer absolutely nothing that God can use to create a new world.
• The question we must ask and answer, then, is this: "Is my life pleasing to God?"
• I am going to do everything I can to help you see the kind of life that does—and does not—please God.

• The person I'll be turning to for answers to our central question is one of the Bible's most famous preachers—John the Baptist.
• John was a prophet; when he showed up, there hadn't been a prophet in Israel for 400 years.
• He had one simple but tough message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!"
• What did John mean by his declaration?
  • Illustration: Reflecting on his time in middle school, Miller tells how he and his classmates would act up when the teacher was gone until a designated sentry would tell them the teacher was coming back. 
• When John the Baptist cries out about the kingdom of God, he is yelling: "God's coming!"
• One reason John got people's attention was that he lived in the desert (just as the prophet Isaiah had promised).
• The second reason John got the people's attention was that he was poor (to the point of eating locusts and wild honey).
• Finally, John got the attention of the people because he dressed like Elijah (and every Jew knew that before the Day of the Lord came, a prophet like Elijah would show up).
• Once John had their attention, he told the people two things they could do to live a life that pleased God.

• The first thing John says to the people is, "Confess your sins."
• John even asked them to be baptized.
• This would not be easy for the people; confession and baptism were public acts.
• Back then, pretty much the only person who got baptized was the occasional pagan who wanted to convert and become a Jew.
• John became a phenomenon, and it wasn't too long before he attracted some of the most respected religious people in the country.
• John attacked the more religious among the crowd, because they would rather be known for being good than to really face God in their brokenness.
• We're all like Pharisees sometimes, because it's hard to let others know our real junk.
  • Illustration: Miller tells the story of how a woman once confessed twice in one day, because she wasn't as honest as she needed to be the first time around.
• John the Baptist would say, "God is looking for that second kind of confession."
• Broken humility is attractive to God, and it's also a gift to other people.
  • Illustration: Miller shares his own personal journey regarding brokenness and how it has made all the difference for his spiritual growth.
• The people who truly confess their sins and know their brokenness may be messed up, but they are irresistible to God.

• As good as it is to humbly and honestly confess your sins, you also need to live in such a way that you prove you really want to live a different kind of life.
• John's other sermons that are recorded in the Bible give us a hint as to what actions he wanted to see in the lives of people.
• John wanted people to be generous.
• John wanted people to no longer take advantage of others.
• John wanted people to be sexually faithful to their spouses. 
• John is not primarily concerned about your religiosity.
• If you've really repented, people will be able to tell.
  • Illustration: Miller shares an example of how people in his church are showing signs of real life change.
• If you live a broken life, honestly confessing your junk and then out living a life of meaningful service out of gratitude for God's mercy, then Christ will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
• If you are a highly religious person who is blind to your own rigidity and lack of love, then Jesus will baptize you with fire.

• The ax is in God's hands, ready to cut down the dead trees—but it hasn't cut yet.
• The winnowing fork is in God's hands, ready to clear his threshing floor—but he hasn't done that yet.
• Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!

Kevin Miller is executive vice president of Christianity Today International and an assistant pastor with Church of the Resurrection in Wheaton, Illinois. His books include Surviving Information Overload (Zondervan, 2004). He and his wife Karen have two children, Andrew and Anne.

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