All right. If you wish to read
along, turn to the book of the prophet Jeremiah again, chapter
6 this morning. Jeremiah chapter 6. The title of my message this
morning is The Old Paths. The Old Paths. Jeremiah chapter
6. Are you there? Verse 16. Jeremiah has recorded this for
us and he says these words, thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the
ways and see and ask for the old paths where is the good way
and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls. But
they said, we will not walk therein. Also, I sent watchmen over you,
saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said,
we will not hearken." That's right. I will try to paraphrase these
verses. This won't try to be a word for
word. God is saying here through Jeremiah, wherever people are, That's what it means. Thus saith
the Lord, stand ye in the ways. It's wherever you're at. Yes,
sir. Stand ye in the way. Men are all over this world in
all kinds of various ways. Yes, sir. Wherever people are,
no matter what their station in life may be, they should give
heed and consider. That's what he says. Stand ye
in the ways and see and ask for the old paths where is the good
way. So no matter what a man's or
a woman's station in life, they should give heed and consider
and inquire concerning the old paths. God's good way. And they should walk, Larian. They should pay great heed to
God's gospel proclaimers. That's what he's talking about
in the next verse. Almost always in the scripture, when you speak
of watchmen, it's talking about those who proclaim something. They should pay great heed to
God's gospel proclaimers. Yet men say, we will not walk
therein. Yet men say, we will not hearken. I have four parts to this message
here this morning. First of all, it's old paths. plural, not because there are
many ways to God. There are not many ways to God.
No. It is the old paths, not because
there are many ways to God, but the good way, singular. Notice
when he says that. There are not good ways, there
is a good way. Okay. It's old paths, not because
there are many ways to God, but the good way is the same for
all who do walk therein. That's what he's talking about.
The scripture is clear. And it was just as true at Jeremiah's
day as it is in our day. And it's just as true as in the
days of Adam and Eve before or after the fall. It's just as
true. There is but one mediator between
God and men, and that is the man, Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ
did not come to become a mediator. He is the eternal mediator between
God and man. He said himself, I am the way
and the truth. the truth and the life. No man
cometh, no man, not one single person. No man cometh under the
father, but by me. Now note he said by, that means
not only is he the instrument, but he's the source. We could
say no one comes to God but through him. That's true, but it's deeper
than even that. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Even God's sheep are described
in the beginning as lost sheep, and the good shepherd must go
out into the wilderness where that sheep is lost, and he must
find that sheep, he must lay it on his shoulders, and he brings
it all the way home and says in glory, rejoice with me, for
I have found my sheep, which was lost. Peter was quite clear,
wasn't he? There is no other name given
under heaven among men whereby we must be saved. That's not a new way, that's
the old path. That's the old path. As soon
as our father and mother had fallen, as soon as they had rebelled
against God, God declared the old path. A seed, the seed of
the woman is coming and He That's why when Eve had another child,
she said, or had her, had Cain. When she first, I've gotten a
what? A man. It wasn't because she
preferred a male to a female. She thought, I believe this. She thought this might be him. She was told it's gonna be a
him. It's going to be the seed of
the woman. How many of them were around
then? Just one, her. And when Cain was born, she thought,
this might be him. But to her dismay, she found
that it was exactly the opposite. And that one Cain killed his
brother Abel over this very paths, the old paths and the one good
way. And then she had another son. She said, God has given me another
seed. Still hoping, Neil, I'm still
hoping maybe this is that promised one. And all throughout the Old
Testament prophets, every true believer was looking for that
one seed of the woman. All of them. There shall not
a judge, a lawgiver, cease in Judah till Shiloh. He is our peace. So again, the
first thing, it's old paths, not because there are many ways
to God, but the good way is the same for all, because all who
do come are spread out all over this globe. Secondly, it's the
way, the only way to find rest. Isn't that what it is? Thus saith
the Lord, stand ye in the ways. Wherever you're at, don't try
to better yourself. I mean, that song that's been
so abused by men is still a valid song. Just as I am. Without one plea, but that thy
blood was shed for me. O Lamb of God, I come. And Neil, you do that where you
are. You don't try to better yourself to see that. Wherever
you're at, stop. Stand up and see. See. It's the way, the only way to
find rest. There's only one gospel and has
ever been and shall ever only be one gospel. Now I'm not going
to go in to explain it. The gospel of the kingdom is
not different from the gospel of the grace of God. No, sir. Someone says it's about
a different time. It ain't about times. It's about
a person. It's about a person. You have
no kingdom unless you got a king. That's just the most important
thing in the kingdom is who? The king. The most important
thing in God's gospel is God's son. So much so, Paul said, if
an angel from heaven preach any other gospel, That's an astounding
statement. An angel, why? Because there
are many fallen angels that don't preach that gospel. But though
a man or an angel from heaven or even me, Paul says, preach
any other gospel, let him be accursed. And that gospel is
the gospel of God's Son. I don't care how doctrinally
correct an individual may be, if he's not preaching Christ,
he's not preaching the gospel. He can preach election, total
depravity, predestination, unconditional election. He can teach preservation
and perseverance of the saints, limited atonement, but if Christ
is not the sum and substance of his message, he's not preaching
the gospel. Just the way it is. Number three,
it truly is the old paths. Look at what Peter said. First
Peter, I believe it's chapter one. First Peter chapter one and just
a couple of verses here. 1 Peter 1 verse 18, for as much
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold from your vain way of life, your vain conversation,
received by tradition from your fathers, but how were ye redeemed,
hear it now, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, before Adam ever fell. Christ
was already the blood lamb. Was he not? This is not an afterthought with
God. It is forethought with God. Foreordination with God. Forepurposing with God. Somebody said, did he purpose
because we would fall? Or did he purpose the fall because
he would redeem? Christ is superior and first
to everything. He's first and superior to everything.
Look at this passage, you know, Proverbs chapter eight, and you've
heard this before. Proverbs chapter eight begins
with speaking about wisdom, wisdom, but we find out in Proverbs eight
that wisdom is a person. Yes, sir. You see, Solomon's
wisdom was not simply that he could solve complex issues. It certainly manifested itself
in that. But Solomon's great wisdom came
in the fact that he knew the Christ of God. That's where it
begins. But look at what it says in verse
22 of Proverbs. Remember, this is truly the old
paths. Jesus Christ is no new thing. He is the mediator of a better
covenant and called a new covenant. But he's not new. He's the old
past. Look at it, verse 22 of Proverbs
8. The Lord hath possessed me in the beginning of his way before
his works of old. I was set up from everlasting
from the beginning. Somebody says, when is that?
I don't know. Only God does. Only God does. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no
deaths. I was brought forth. When there
were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were
settled, before the hills, was I brought forth. While as yet
He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest parts
of the dust of the world, when He prepared the heavens, I was
there. You see it? When He set a compass
upon the face of the depth, when He established the clouds above,
when He strengthened the fountains of the deep, when He gave to
the sea His decree that the waters should not pass His commandment,
when He appointed the foundations of the earth, then I was by Him
as one brought up with Him, and I was daily Here's the thing,
His delight. Now if God delights in Him, oh
God help me to delight in Him. If God, and He does, delights
in Him, then my delighting in Him pleases God. It pleases God. I was daily. And that's just
amazing language. But I suppose it's written that
way just so we might have some way of grasping a hold of it.
Because this was eternal. This was before the earth went
around the sun. That's the only way we can compute
days, is it not? Or actually the earth turns on
its axis and then goes around the sun and makes its orbit.
That's how we delineate everything. Jesus Christ was before all that
and God Almighty delighted in him always. Always. And look, rejoicing always before
him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth and my delights,
here it is, this is amazing, and my delights were with the
sons of men. He had his heart and mind set
on man, the creature, even back then. When that thief on the
cross said, Lord, remember me, how could he forget? He had thought
about him from all eternity. Thought about it. This is truly
the old paths. And when somebody talks to you
about the new gospel, or that the gospel is new, it may be
newly revealed to an individual, but the gospel's not new. The
gospel is as old as God. And that's eternal. That's eternal. Number four, this is the last
one, and we'll look at it with the most detail. But in our text,
I would be remiss if I did not deal with it as it truly is. Here's number four, but what
is our chief problem? You see it? What is our chief
problem? All of us now, all of us. Paul said in Romans three, he
said, we before proved that both Jews and Gentiles, they're all
under sin. Notice here, it's we. We will
not. Our rebellion is so hateful against
God that we will comfort ourselves in other rebels. That's exactly
right. Right. Yes, sir. We're not even
most of the time. We're not even strong enough
in this matter to say, ah, I will. No, we will not. You ever talk
to somebody? So we don't believe that comforting
ourselves in our own rebellion with other rebels. We will not
walk there in. We will not hearken. And Paul
says, though, they all join hand in hand together. They're all
together become what? Unprofitable. This is not an
anomaly. We will not. This is all of us
by nature. There's none to seek after God.
There's none that doeth good. Joe, would it not be good? Would
it not be good to stand in the ways and see and ask for the
old paths where is the good way and walk therein and find rest
for your souls? But by nature, each and every
one of us says, we will not. We will not. That's our chief
problem. And what is the chief problem
here? It begins with this. It's our will. It's our will. The very thing that men cry up
as your hope, your will. They've even dressed it up now
and call it free will. But free will is nothing more
than self will doctrined up with the emotion of humanism. Yes,
there is a such thing as self will, and it's always evil, except
when found in God. Self-will is condemned in scripture,
and that's what our will is. Notice our chief problem was
what? We will not. The very thing that men cry up
is our hope, is the one thing God cries up is our problem.
Isn't it? So who are we to believe? Ourselves
or God? And this is why the scripture
says that those of God really calling out of darkness, they
take sides with God against themselves. You see, most people think that
preaching is to get you to feel good about yourself, at least
good enough to say you ought to leave your sins and come to
Jesus. But our problem is, we will not. Christ told some people,
ye will not come to me that you might have life. Our problem
is our will. And our wills obstinately refuse. We will not. You remember when you were in
the dregs of, I will not. You remember that? I remember
it. because it's still with me today. It's still with me today. God has not vanquished that old
will yet as far as existence is concerned. It's still there. And every time I hear the gospel
call, every time I hear the truth proclaimed, there's a part in
me that says I will not. I know most people says that
our problem is alcohol, drugs, sexual promiscuity, and those
are problems. But those are but the fluff on
the outside. The real problem is I will not! That's the problem. So much so
that we're even like Satan. And Satan said, I will. And what
he willed to do was not pleasing to God. You remember that? I will ascend up into the heavens.
I'll take over God's throne. And God said, we'll see about
that. John said, I saw Satan cast down from heaven. Now, we're told not to deal with
him. Right? He's far more powerful
than us. Right? God dealt with him like, You think He can't deal with
you? Do you think our will not frustrates Him? No. No. It's our will. That's our chief
problem. Our wills are obstinately refusing God. I will not. And what do we say? I will not
walk therein. Some people say, well, we're
confused about you folk. You talk about like your walk
and how you conduct yourself in this world has nothing to
do with the election and justification before God. Well, at least you
got that much right. But let me tell you, when God
almighty lays hold of you, he will change your walk. He will
change your walk. Now you'll still walk faultingly.
Malachi said, when I fall, he didn't say if I fall. He said,
my enemies, don't you rejoice over me. When I fall, I will
arise again. Why? Because God Almighty's got
a hold of me. God Almighty. We will not walk that in. Oh,
yes, by nature, we will give mental assent. We'll give mental
assent. We may even give mental assent
to proper doctrine. You know? And I think that is
probably Maybe, I should say, not probably,
but that is maybe more widespread than we know, especially amongst
Grace Assemblies, and especially amongst youngsters who've brought
up under this and know only this, and they give mental assent to
the proper doctrine, but still inside their hearts is full of
I will not. And I will not walk therein. You see, it's not just mental
assent. It's not just verbal assent. Our Lord warned about
that kind of thing. This people draws nigh unto me
with their what? Their lips. But what's wrong? Their heart is far from me. But walk? No. Oh, I'll give mental
assent. Oh, I'm a corrupt. I'm totally
depraved. And I'm going to enjoy it too. Oh yeah, preacher, I agree with
that total depravity. And I thank God I get to do it
now. Well, it's all of grace, don't
you know? It's all of grace, don't you know? Well, let me
tell you, it is all of grace. It is all of grace. And when God
Almighty saves you, He changes your walk. He changes your walk. We will not walk therein. No,
uh-uh. And we will not hearken. We will not, I won't listen.
I won't listen. God has sent men into this world
to declare, thus saith the Lord. Here's what he says. And man
by nature says, I will not listen. I will not listen. But the writer
of Hebrew says this, we best listen. We best pay heed to the
things that we've heard. lest at any time we should let
them slip. And some say that more appropriately,
we say we should slip away from them, and that may be so. But
either way, you don't want it to slip. Wives born and raised
in a free grace church, that don't get you nothing. Nothing. Maybe just more judgment. If
God Almighty doesn't call you. Maybe just adding to your condemnation
if you've never been called out by his grace. Think of it, Abraham
walked with God and believed God. He didn't have a Bible.
He didn't have a law. He didn't have an indwelling
spirit. He has the spirit of God with him, but he didn't have
the indwelling spirit of God. The only thing he had was life
from God and God being one with him. And he still walked with
God, Joe. Think about how much more responsibility
and accountability we now today have. Think of the privilege
of many who sit under the sound of the preaching of the gospel.
And I know it seems to be so few compared to the whole, but
there's still thousands of us dotted in little groups all over
the place. And sadly, even in these small
groups, I'm afraid there's those who've heard it all their life
and give mental assent and give verbal assent, but that word
has never conquered their heart or said, I must walk therein. There's a big difference between
I must walk therein and I must hearken than I will not walk
therein and I will not hearken. Now go back to Proverbs eight
again. You didn't think I was going to leave off all the rest
of that last few verses, did you? Proverbs chapter eight. Remember, Christ is the old paths.
But look now, now we see for sure. Look at what it says. Proverbs
chapter eight, verse 32 now. Now therefore, hearken unto me. Oh ye children, for blessed are
they that keep my ways. And that's not you do everything
right. That means you get a hold of
it and you pull it in here. becomes dear to you. Blessed
are they that keep my ways, hear instruction and be wise, and
refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors. It may be that God only gives
us momentary and fleeting glances of that, but you know what? That's
good enough. We don't deserve that. We don't deserve that. But look,
for whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor
of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me
wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me They love
death. They're not just going to die.
They love death. And it is true of all of us by
nature. We hate him without a cause. We hate him without a cause.
He gives us his breath to breathe. Gives us his son to enjoy. Gives
us this world to marvel in and sometimes, Neil, to have pleasure
in. Lets us eat his food. drink his water, and even other
marvelous things. And yet we say we will not walk
there again. We will not hearken. Whether we either deny, that
is deny the need, or refuse the command, the one thing we're
refusing is rest. Rest. Rest. We all love to rest
physically. Now, maybe not all. Some people
are workaholics, I understand that. But I like to rest. Recliner wrestling is my favorite
sport. And I can wrestle that thing all day long, and usually
it wins, but that's all right. Actually, one last night, about
seven o'clock, I was in bed. But either way, whether it's
denying the need, when God says rest, it's because God knows
we need rest. You see what he's saying there? But we either deny
the need or refuse the command. Rest! But we, by nature, by nature, what do we say? We
will not rest. Christ said, come unto me, all ye that labor and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Now he's not freeing
you to do your own thing. He says, you take my yoke upon
you and learn of me. But let me tell you, my yoke's
easy. My burden's light. And ye shall find rest for your
souls. But you know what we say by nature?
We will not rest. Many of us, by nature, we're
like Israel of old. Always going about, going about,
going about. I got to be busy. I will not
rest, I must work. Or, others of us are like the
old pagan Gentiles. We're not gonna rest while we're
walking about in the darkness and the vanity of our evil, unbelieving
hearts. When we say, I will not rest,
I gotta satisfy my molest. I gotta be busy about making
me happy. I gotta be busy about me enjoying
this world, because after all, eat, drink, and be happy. All of it is the refusal of God's
rest. All of it's the refusal of God's
rest. It's whether it's, I will not
rest because I must work. I'm going to please somehow,
God somehow, even if it hair-lips God himself. It don't work that way. And I
know we say it a lot, I say it a lot, Joe, every gospel preacher
says it a lot, that even our righteousnesses are as filthy
rags in God's sight. The best we have to offer, God
looks at it and says, that is disgusting. That is disgusting. What then? Is there any hope? Oh, I know, there are people,
oh boy, some old Jews back in Jeremiah's day. Oh yeah, that's
some old Jews in Christ's day. Let me tell you something. The
apostle Peter knew exactly what he said. Pilate and Herod both. And they didn't like one another.
And the Jews. and the Gentiles, they didn't
like one another. And the Jews didn't like Pilate
and Herod, Pilate and Herod didn't like the Jews, the Gentiles didn't
like the Jews, and most of the Gentiles didn't like Pilate and
Herod, and Pilate and Herod probably didn't like most of the Gentiles.
But one thing they all did, they all gathered together against
thy holy child Jesus. All of us. This ain't just about
them over there, this is about me in here. What then, is there
any hope? Yes, there is. But that hope's
not in me. And it's not of me. That hope's
not in you. And it's not of you. Now turn
to James. James chapter one. Remember,
what's our chief problem? Our will. Our will, that's our
chief. We can clean up all of the immoral
things out of our life. We still will not. Will not. Now here's the only hope. James
chapter 1. Are you there? One verse for
right now. Verse 18. Of His own will. There's the
only hope. His own will had nothing to do
with your will It's not of the man the fallen sinful man who
willeth or runneth But of God that showeth mercy of his own
will beget he us and let me tell you something We some of you
talked about this the debate that goes around about this and
that let me tell you something Part of the problem is you get
hung up on one thing and you become one-sided That's the problem,
I know I've been there. Of his own will beget he us.
Regeneration must proceed before any person ever can understand
the gospel. But regeneration is not an end
in itself. It is for the purpose of hearing
the word of God. It is for the purpose of being
enabled to walk therein. God opened Lydia's heart. so
that she attended unto the things which were spoken of by Paul.
He didn't just open her heart and leave her to go on about
that riverbank. She started following Paul. She started listening to
what Paul was saying. Why? Because God Almighty opened
her heart. Of his own will begat he us,
has brought us forth, birthed us out with the word of truth. And you have no right to claim
God's done anything for you until his gospel has laid hold of your
soul. You can tell, I believe I was regenerated years ago.
You don't know what you're talking about until God's gospel lays
hold of you. There's where it boils down to.
That we should be a kind of, there's those fruits, Joe. God don't want what's left over.
God's taking it right from the get go. I'm gonna have the first
fruits. That we should be a kind of first
fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, now, I know that even
when I read James, James ticks me off sometimes. but that's
because James hits me where I live. That's why. Look at it, wherefore? Now, in other words, James said,
now I've got a conclusion. Here's my conclusion. Here's
a summary for you. Wherefore? My beloved brethren,
let every man be swift to what? Hear. Slow to speak. Slow to wrath. You know why?
Because when we hear, there's a part of us that rises up and
says, I will not. Walk therein or hearken either
one. God says shut up and listen. You see it? Wherefore my beloved
brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow
to wrath, for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
of God. That will get you nowhere fighting against God. Wherefore? Lay apart all filthiness and
superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted
Word, which is able to save your souls. But be ye doers of the
Word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. What then, is
there hope? Yeah, God is the hope. And let
me tell you, when God acts, you will act. When God gives life,
you will live. When God causes his gospel to
lay hold of your heart, you'll walk in it and you'll listen
to it. Remember, this doesn't encourage
complacency, nor does it enjoin us to some cold, dry fatalism.
Of his own will begat he us. And guess what? Since that's
true, you best listen up. Isn't that what it says? Shut
up and listen. And that's not me telling you,
that's God telling us. Shut up and listen. God commands
men to stand, to see, to ask, to walk, to rest, to hearken. But we will not. We will not. In and of ourselves. There's
none that seeketh after God. Then how is it, and then what's
the answer to anyone who does? It has to be God. It has to be
God. But let me tell you something,
when God wills, you will. When God, He is able to bring
down the most proud. Now, if there's a proud person
out there that says, I will not, I will not, and they die saying,
I will not, it wasn't because God couldn't. It's because God
hadn't purposed to bring them down. because he's able to abase
all those that walk in pride. So if he's able and it doesn't
happen, it wasn't because he wasn't able. That is simple one plus
one equals two, is it not? It's because God left them where
they were. And look at Proverbs chapter
one sometimes, see about that. God said, I called, you refused.
I gave you opportunity. You heard the gospel preached,
you heard people encouraging you to turn from your own way
and turn to the old path, and you said, I will not. God says
this, I will mock when your calamity comes. That's frightening. Oh God, conquer me. Oh God, conquer me. Father, we see these things,
we believe these things, but oh God help our, help you, our
unbelief. God crush it under our feet in
Christ's name. Amen.