Proverbs chapter 14 and before we do I want to tell us that there's always now or have there ever been only two ways and you've probably never heard me say that before because really there's only one way to God but there's another way also not to God but it's the way of man. It's the way of man unto death. And that's what our text talks about this hour. So there's two ways. There's God's way and there's man's way. And only one is unto eternal life. And the other is to absolute death.

Jesus Christ said, John chapter 14, and we just heard in our call to worship, I am the way. Now, when we get to the point here, When we get to where you're here in chapter 14, look at verse 12. Here's the correlation tonight where the message came from. There is a way. Now, if Jesus Christ didn't say, I am a way, that's plural. That could be plural. That means there could be many. The is definitive. That means he's the only one. I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man come to the Father but by me.

Now something most important to mention at this point is that Christ didn't come to make a way that you might have a choice or a way where men could, he is the way. He is the, and that's something that's so contrary to all false religion. False religion says that he attempted to do something, and now you have to do something also. But the Lord said, I am the way, no man come to the Father, but by me. What does that mean, by me? That means he's the one that orchestrates it, he's the one that purposes it, he's the one that does it, by him. That doesn't mean if you go to him, then you go to the Father. That means he has to bring you and present you as spotless before the Father, or we won't be able to go to the Father at all.

Now, tonight we have a correlation throughout all these first 12 verses going back and forth again between the wicked and the righteous, as he's going to continue doing up until chapter 21, I believe it is. The wicked believe mankind is always, and to their own demise, their own death, I believe they could approach God by something other than his way. Now, what did the Lord say about that when he was preaching? He said, if any man climb up any other way, the same as a thief and a robber. What does that mean, a thief and a robber? They're trying to rob God of his glory. They're trying to steal from him. They're trying to get glory for themselves to say, look at me, rather than giving the glory to the Lord.

But God's way, brothers and sisters, is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It's life eternal. He is life eternal. Listen to what he said in John 17, and this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. So if you know Jesus Christ, you're gonna know the Father. As we heard Lord talking to Philip, said, show us the Father. He said, have I been with you so long that you don't know me? When you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I and my father are one. Do you remember that in John chapter 10? So the oneness with the father and the son is also the oneness that we have with the son and therefore with the father as well. That's how we're describing him being the way.

This is life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God. And the only way to do that is through the Lord Jesus Christ who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man come to the father, but by me. Now let's read Proverbs 14, one through 12. And we're gonna finish tonight by going back and rereading this in the light of the message, because we're gonna spend most of our time just talking about verse 12, but when we come back, hopefully we can see some of these different correlations, and it may, Lord may be pleased to shed light on it for us.

Verse one, every wise woman buildeth her house, but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord, but he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him. In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride, but the lips of the wise shall preserve them. Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of an ox. A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. A scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not, but knowledge is easy to him that understandeth. Go from the presence of a foolish man when thou perceiveth not in him the lips of knowledge. The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way, but the folly of fools is deceit. Fools make a mock at sin, but among the righteous there is favor. The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

" I've titled this message, A Way or The Way. A Way or The Way. Now whether I realize it or not, and whether you realize it or not, Either we are believing in the way, we're believing on the way, the Lord Jesus Christ, or we're believing in a way. And the Lord said there's only one way. And he is that way. There is no other option. There is no other opinion that matters. God's the one that spoke it. God said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him. And when the Lord speaks, he cannot lie. Who can disannul it? Who can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? Who can challenge his authority? Who can make void the word of God?

Scripture tells us in Psalm 119, 89, forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Settled means same as finished. It's finished. Why? Because the word of God is the same as the truth of God. It's the same as the way of God. That's all one. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why.

First question I have for us tonight is, what is the way of God? The Lord tells us, my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts. For as high as the heavens above the earth, so is my ways above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. We'd be in sad shape if that's what the Lord left us, wouldn't we? If the Lord said, my ways are not your ways, and my thoughts are not your thoughts, and he just left it there, we'd be in trouble. Because who hath known the mind of the Lord, the scripture says.

But here the good news is, He didn't stop there. He gave us his word in mercy. He gave us his son in grace, and he revealed the way, the Lord Jesus Christ to his people, all by his grace. Aren't you glad that he gave us his gospel, his purpose, how he saves his people from their sin. He gave us hope. Not hope that we may gain a physical knowledge of who God is, but I hope in knowing him. Paul said, I know whom I have believed. This is an intimate knowing. This isn't just, I know about so-and-so. No, this is know the person, know the person.

To talk about God's way, we have to go back before time ever began. God's way starts before time, started before time. God chose to elect a people before the world ever began, before time ever began, before anything was ever created in this world. They talked about the vastness of outer space and how infinite it is. And I'm going to tell you that our God is much more infinite than their outer space is, I'm telling you, because he created it. He's the sovereign creator. And yet he chose in mercy to save some sinners by his grace alone. Not based on their person, not based on their future merits, their choice or their good works. But based upon his choice, his sovereign right, his purpose, based upon the merits and the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, he chose to save his people from their sin.

Aren't you glad the election is not based upon you and I? Salvation's not based upon you and I, meaning I didn't do anything to deserve it or earn it. I didn't do anything to win it. I didn't do anything to choose it. The Lord brought it to me, gave it to me freely by his grace. And if I find myself believing, I am the benefactor of his salvation.

Now with that agreement, Covenant of Grace, where the Lord elected a people. The Son agreed to redeem those people. And in the fullness of time, he was born of a woman, the scripture says. And you want to explain that our Lord, the condescension where he becomes a man, it's just too, it's unfathomable for my brain to comprehend how the eternal, everlasting God became a man. and died. But that's what had to happen. And that's exactly what Christ agreed to. These were the terms. These were the conditions in order for you and I to be redeemed back to God. Otherwise, we would be like all the rest of all men, most miserable. And yet God had the way back to him. Not only did he know there was going to be a fall in the Garden of Eden, but he purposed that from the foundation of the world for his own glory. for his own will, for his own purpose. He didn't make a mistake. God doesn't make mistakes. Adam didn't sin and the Lord said, uh-oh, I've messed up. It don't work that way with our God. He doesn't make a mistake. He's seated in the heavenlies.

You know, have you ever been And I know the answer is rhetorical because we're all human. Have you ever been anxious before? Of course, everybody in here has been anxious. Maybe you have something that you're gonna be doing, you're not really certain about it, you're a little uncomfortable, you feel anxious. Maybe it's something big, life changing. Am I making the right decision?

God has never felt anxiety. Do we understand how glorious that is? Because if our God is, God is our Heavenly Father. If He's our Heavenly Father and ever having anxiety, we have something to rest in.

He rested on the Lord Jesus Christ the way. That's the point right now. He became a man and He lived a perfect life and He died the perfect death that you and I could not die. He shed His precious blood because that was the payment required for the remission of our sin. That was the payment required for redemption.

And the most glorious part about it is, is the Lord imputed our sin unto Him and imputed His righteousness unto us. Now we've been made the righteousness of God in Him. And the Lord said, it is finished. Father was pleased because Christ offered up his soul and offering for sin. Actually, the scripture says, when he hath made his soul an offering for sin, he shall be satisfied. He shall see the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied. That's what it said.

The Lord Jesus Christ put every sin away of every single person he was dying for every single person that he loved every single person that was chosen in the covenant of grace before time ever began. This is the way that God has purposed for you and I for sinners his elect to be redeemed. Otherwise, there is no way Lord didn't say I'm a way that's the message that is a way or the way it can't be can't be both.

So what happened? Was the Lord satisfied? Absolutely. We have sufficient evidence because the Lord resurrected his darling son, proving we had been justified freely by his grace. Now in the fullness of time, he comes to where we are, dead, dog, sinners, lost, without hope, seeing our leprosy before us, seeing how bad we are, and he says, live. And we receive the gift of life, the gift of sight. We receive light and a new heart. We've now realized we've been made heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Why? Because of the way, because of the way he did exactly what he meant to do.

Lord said this, I am the way and no man come to the father, but by me. He also said, no man come to the Father except the Father which hath sent me, draw him. See, salvation is all of the Lord. This is one way, there's not many ways. The scripture's clear, there's one faith. There's one Lord, one faith, one baptism, who is above all and through all and in you all. This is our God, this is his gospel, and this is the way that he saves sinners.

Now, do you believe him? Do you believe His Word? Do you believe on Him as all your righteousness, wisdom, sanctification, and redemption? Or, which brings us to our second question, do you believe in another way? Another way.

Now, there are those that inadvertently think they can bypass the Word of God. because they don't understand it, or they haven't seen it, or they haven't come to grips with it. I remember being in false religion, and I bring that up a lot, because a lot of things happen in false religion. But you would go read the scripture, and I would bring a passage of scripture to somebody, and I'd say, well, just stay out of that chapter. Don't read that. Go over here and read this, and go over there and read that.

Paul said, I didn't fail to reveal every, I didn't keep a secret. I told you everything, everything contained in the scripture. So men don't like what the scripture says, so what they have to do, they have to change it, or they have to manipulate it, or make it say something that it doesn't say, and men by tradition start believing that, because this may be a hierarchy, it may be a person of great renown, with great respect, and a family. And yet the Lord says, no, there's only one way. There's only one way.

It's sad to talk about, but the truth of the matter is, when you look at all these churches that are not preaching the truth about our Lord, they're not believers, they're not. Lord will bring His sheep out of those false goat barns and set them down where the pasture is." That's where He feeds His people. There is no gleaning in false churches. You can't have 1% good and 99% bad. That means you have 99% poison and 1% water. I mean that's not going to do you any good. You're still going to die from it. And that's exactly the truth of the matter.

The good news is that the Lord said, of all the Father gave me, I will lose none. He's not gonna lose any. He'll call them out of darkness into His light at His appointed time. He'll get them a gospel preacher and they'll come to hear. That's the good news. And what will they hear? That He is the way. that it's not by works of righteousness that we have done, but according to his mercy that he saved us. It's not that we made a decision or that we prayed a prayer, but it's his prayer that he prayed. It was the decision of God that saved us from the beginning of the world before the foundation of the world, that he would redeem his people.

There are those that really believe though, that they can inadvertently, and that word inadvertently means not necessarily on purpose. Um, They believe that they can bypass the word of God and approach him another way. And this can only lead to death. Jude gives us insight to this in verse 11. He says, woe unto them for they have gone in the way of Cain and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward and perished in the gainsaying of Korah.

Now what does he mean the way of Cain? What was the way of Cain? Cain offered up the works of his hands rather than clinging to the blood, rather than looking to the lamb. Cain said, my sacrifice is as good as my brother's. Even though the Lord, even though he knew the requirement, even though he knew the requirement was blood for without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. Don't you think Adam would have told his sons, if you're going to do business with God, you're going to have, you're going to need a substitute. You're going to need a lamb. We're sinful. That's the lesson that the Lord would have taught him as soon as he covered him with that skin. We know that that has to be true. And so the son literally was in blatant disobedience to God saying, no, I'm good enough. I don't need your covering. I don't need your lamb. I don't need your blood. I can do something that's good enough on my own. This is the way of Cain. And although men and women may not say it exactly like that, whenever they're coming to service and they're saying, look at me, how I live my life and what I've been doing and the good works I've been doing, they're literally bypassing the lamb, saying, yeah, yeah, well, I need the blood, but look what all I've done.

We've cast out all these demons in your name. We've done all these wonderful works and they don't even mean to do it.

But what about the error of Balaam? Balaam was a, prophet. Yes, but he was not prophet in Israel. He was a, he prophesied truths. I can't say I'm a false prophet. Difficult to what to call him. He was, he was a snake. That's for sure.

But all he could prophesy was what the Lord told him to prophesy. Don't you love our Lord has all the power in that. Balaam's interest was reward. Balaam's interest was seeking reward for service. He was going to gain from cursing the nation Israel more than he was blessing the nation Israel. As a matter of fact, if he blessed the nation Israel, his head was on the line for it more than likely.

But no matter what he tried to say, all he could say is what the Lord told him to say, which was blessing the nation Israel. I love that. He couldn't speak against the Lord. Why? The Lord wouldn't let him. So you have Balaam talking to the king and eventually, even though he blessed the nation Israel, That's where the Samaritans came from. He ended up telling them, you know, you can bring them down by introducing some of these strange gods and things like that. And he kind of weaseled his way through there.

Well, that's the error is that, yeah, yeah, we serve. And that's where the Samaritan woman came from. We, yeah, we serve God. We serve him in this mountain and we serve him in the, you remember the woman at the well, that's all, that's she's a Samaritan. That's all that all came from.

We serve him in this mountain and that, and that mountain, what they had was five different, Five different types of gods. I'll try to remember them because I didn't write this down, but it was the moon, the sun, the cat, the dog, and the donkey. And they said, that's Jehovah. That's Jehovah.

What's the error of Balaam? Not looking to God as he is, not knowing him, not seeing the way, the one. It's not a donkey and it's not a dog. That's not going to help us. God is a spirit and they that worship must worship in spirit. And in truth, the error of Balaam is, is he was seeking after reward and he got his reward in this life eventually, but he also got rewarded in the life after. What was that reward? Well, there's a way that seemeth right unto men, but the end thereof is the ways of dead. That was the reward.

The last thing that verse says is the gang saying of Korah. Do you remember them? Korah, And Dathan, another one, I can't remember his name, but they came up to Moses. Moses was the high priest, Aaron, or Moses was the priest, Aaron was the priest. And they said, listen, of course, and I'm a Levite, I can be a priest too. And the other guy says, well, we're not Levites, we can be priests anyways. See the priestly duty represented the Lord Jesus Christ as our high priest. He represented our, his sacrifice, his work under the father. And these men were saying, we don't need you to do it for us. We can do it for ourselves. And that was a huge error because no, you can't, only God can ordain a priest. And at the time it had to be a Levite. What they were saying was, is I do not need a priest. I can choose God myself. I can represent myself before God. I don't need you to do that. I can represent myself and be saved. And so many do this whenever they say, I chose Jesus. I chose God. I've made him Lord of my, he's already Lord of our life, whether we want to admit it or not. He's the Lord overall.

Now all three of these, and the reason I briefly talked about those is because all three of these are found in the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas. Hophni and Phinehas. Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 2 and I'll tell you what's going on. We're still talking about a way or the way. A way or the way. And these ones that had erred and they went the wrong way, it wasn't the way of the Lord. The ones we just heard about. Cain, Balaam, and Korah, and we're gonna find them right here in 1 Samuel, chapter two.

Okay, I wrote that one down right. I'm a little nervous now. I don't wanna mess up on that. So the story is this. Eli was old, well stricken in age, And that's chapter one starts out with a woman by the name of Hannah coming to the temple. She's praying, she's begging God for a baby because her husband had two wives at the time. The other wife, not Hannah, but the other wife bore unto him children. And Hannah was grieved because you got to understand at that time to have a child before the Lord, especially a man child was a hope that it would be the Messiah. It was a hope. And so without that child, there was no hope of a Messiah. It wasn't just that they wanted to birth the child, it was that they wanted to honor the Lord by bringing forth a child. Do we see what I'm saying here? Hannah said, Lord, if you will give me a son, I'll give him back to you all the days of his life. And she did that. She did that. The Lord saw her.

The interesting part about Eli is he had no perception or no inkling in regards of her praying because he thought that she was drunk. That's what the scripture says. But she was praying so grievously that her heart was being poured out and Eli couldn't perceive that that's what was happening. Well, the Lord gave her a son and his name is the name of this book, Samuel. And Samuel, after he was weaned, was dropped off at the doorsteps of the temple. She dropped him off. She honored her word unto the Lord.

Now, the reason this happened, the Lord raised up Samuel, is because Eli is a corrupt priest. Eli's a corrupt priest, and we're gonna see that, but he's allowing his sons to do things that are terrible and blasphemous unto the Lord in his worship. At this time, worship was the sacrifice that they would bring unto the Lord. They would literally, physically offer up a lamb, the priest physically would offer up blood, and they would look by faith unto the Lamb of God. They would look by faith unto the blood. That's how they worshiped. Now we don't have to worship that way because the physical lamb came, and the physical blood poured. We look back by faith. They look forward by faith, in obedience.

Now, Hophni and Phinehas are Eli's sons, Here they are in verse number 12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. And that word Belial means wicked. And in the New Testament, it's the same word as Satan. That's what it means, wicked or Satan. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord. And the priest custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest servant came while the flesh was in seething with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand. And he struck it. pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot, all that the flesh hook brought up the priest took for himself. So did they in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither."

Something important to mention. This is how the priests would eat. They didn't work outside the temple. They didn't work outside in the fields or getting their own food. They would take whatever the people brought as part of it, and it was part of the service of the people to let them have this flesh hook, go in and take some, and they would eat of that.

The Lord made something very clear back whenever he set this law forth. Number one, you don't eat at Sodom. Don't water it down. And that's a picture of the lamb that is not the lamb of God at all being preached today, being watered down, no power, no ability. No, he's saying, you're going to eat the lamb, you're going to eat it whole, and you're going to eat it burnt with fire. It's got to be completely burnt and the fat has to be consumed. That's the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ being consumed on the cross of Calvary, but not being burnt, but not being consumed on the cross of Calvary for you and I.

Now look at verse 15 also. Before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man, the sacrifice, give me flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not have sloven flesh of thee, but raw. The Lord said, you can't eat it raw, it's gotta be cooked. This is what they're doing, they're blaspheming the Lord. And if any man said unto him, let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thou so desired, Then he would answer him, nay, but thou shalt give it me now. And if not, I will take it by force where for the sin of the young men were very great before the Lord for men aboard the offering of the Lord.

Now here we have. the parallel as it begins by calling them the sons of Belial, the sons of Satan, which is interesting because Satan's the one that said, I'm going to be God. I've decided I'm going to be God. And their actions are not only a denouncement of what the Lord's word was, but it's a complete disobedience of what the Lord said that he demanded in his worship. And we see here that Satan did not regard the way of God the same as

Hophni and Phinehas did not regard the way of God. Hophni and Phinehas did as they wanted to. They disregarded what God had said, and they thought they were getting by with it. They thought they were getting by with it, but they literally were doing exactly what Cain did whenever he bypassed the sacrifice that God required. They said, no, we'll let you sacrifice, but we want to eat it raw. They wanted it, and not to sound funny, but they didn't want it well done. They wanted it rare. Everybody likes their steak different. I mean that's really how it was. We like this flavor better. We don't like that flavor. And that's what men do to the Gospel. They take it and they say, no we can't eat that burnt with fire. It is not palatable for us. We want to water it down. Or we want to change it to where it's more palatable. We want it whenever it's raw. We like it with the fat on it.

The Lord said, no that fat's reserved for me. That's the picture of the sweet smelling savor that goes up before the Father. That's the richest piece of the meat. And they were saying, we want the richest portion ourself. Isn't that what Balaam said whenever he wanted reward himself? He wanted, rather than the way of God, he wanted reward. Well, that's what they wanted. They wanted the reward. They wanted the glory that our Lord deserved. They wanted to take, lastly, they wanted to take the place of the lamb like Cain, they coveted the reward of God, the lamb, and they wanted to take him by force. If you don't give it to us, we'll take it by force. We'll take it by force.

I have chose Jesus and allowed him to be, I have made him my Lord and Savior. And that's the best decision I've ever made. Have you ever heard anybody say that? That's exactly what Hophie and Phinehas, that's what they represent here is those that would come and try to lay hold of the Lord in themselves, thinking that God will reward them for their efforts in their prayer or in their devotion or in their life or in whatever it may be, their choice. The Lord said, you can't take it by force. You cannot take it by force. You can't have it watered down. And you can't, he has to be burnt with fire, because it pictures the Lord Jesus Christ.

Men want God their way, but there's only a way, which can be many, and there's the way, the Lord Jesus Christ. And only the Lord's people desire the way, the Lord Jesus Christ, exactly how he is. We love the fact that the Lord says, salvation's of the Lord. Don't we? Love that fact. His reward is with him. His glory cannot be taken away from him. He said, I will not share my glory with idols. I won't. No, he won't give his glory away for anyone. He has an everlasting priesthood. They also were saying, remember going back to Korah, they were saying we can be our own priests. Our Lord has an everlasting priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.

See, in everything God required, he provided in the person of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And that's why he says, no man come to the father but by me. You can't be like Balaam, you can't be like Cain, and you can't be like Korah. You have to come to Christ.

How do we know God's serious about it? About His way, the way, the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, look at verse 27 through 36. And there came a man of God into Eli and said unto him, thus saith the Lord, did I plainly appear into the house of thy father? when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer up my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? And did I give into the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?"

So those are rhetorical questions obviously. He says, kick ye out my sacrifice and all my offerings, which I have commanded in my habitation. And honorest thy sons above me to make yourself fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever. But now, here's judgment. But now the Lord saith, be it far from me for them that honor me I will honor. And they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

It reminds me of a passage of scripture that says there's only one sin that's unforgivable. It is the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. Why is that? Because the Holy Ghost points to one, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's exactly what he's saying here. If you honor the Lord, he'll honor you. Who are you honoring? We have to be honoring the way, and only the Lord can cause us to have the desire to honor the way.

Verse 31, behold, the days come that I will cut off thine arm and the arm of thy father's house. And there shall be, there shall not be an old man in the house. Thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation. In all the wealth which God shall give Israel, there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. And the man of thine, whom I shall not cut off from mine altar, shall be to consume thine eyes, to grieve thine heart, and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee that shall come upon thy two sons on Hophni and Phinehas, and one day they shall die both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house and he shall walk before mine anointed forever. And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left in thine house shall come and crouch to him for a piece of silver and a morsel of bread and shall say, put me, I pray thee, into one of thy priest's offices that I may eat. a piece of bread.

God pronounces judgment. There's a way that seemeth right unto men, but the end thereof is the ways of death. They thought that they were doing what was right and there was no consequence. There's a way that seemeth right unto men, but the end thereof is the ways of death. If we approach God with works, it's certain death. If we come desiring self glory, it's certain death. If we say it's our choice or Act like it's our responsibility to do something, we're taking the Lamb of God by force. And that's certain death. All that is, is discrediting the Lord and his priesthood. It's discrediting him and his office of Savior. It's discrediting him and his office of Lord. It's discrediting his office of God. No, salvation's of the Lord and he is the way. If I want salvation, I've got to have him. If I don't have him, I have nothing.

Here's the good news. If we approach the throne, not by our works, if we approach the throne, not by our merits, if we approach the throne, not by our self-worth, but we approach the throne holding onto nothing but the merits, the worth of the Lord Jesus Christ, if we come as mercy-begging sinners, not trying to take the place of Christ, not trying to avoid the Lamb, exactly like the Lord said, Lord, I want your way, not my way, I want the way, I want the way. The Lord said, I will in no wise cast you out. Isn't that glorious? I will in no wise cast, I won't cast you out. Matter of fact, he says, come, whosoever will, come, let him take the water of life freely. Lord, make me a whosoever, cause me to hunger and thirst after righteousness, cause me to desire this lamb, cause me to desire your way, not my way, don't leave me to myself. That's the cry. Have mercy on me, the sinners.

You know what we're made to cry out? Not unto me, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name be all glory and honor and praise. No, we're made to feast upon the lamb. It's well satisfying to the soul that we're thankful for the Lord. He said, this is my body broken for you. This is my blood shed for the remission of sins for many. We worship our Lord in his glorious gospel and how he saved sinners. And we look to the way, the Lord Jesus Christ, not our own way, all by his grace and all by his mercy.

Now, how is it a sinner can approach? Well, because he's made us alive. By God-given faith, we're able to believe. We are brought to the way. We're brought to God's way. And I love the fact that he changes our language. We no longer speak like we used to speak. No longer think like we used to think. Why? but gives us a new man created in righteousness that looks to Christ and says, truth, Lord, I don't want it watered down. I want it burnt with fire. I don't want the fat that you've reserved for yourself. I don't want your glory or your praise. I want you to have all the glory and honor and praise. I don't want to be my own priest, but I need Christ Jesus to be my priest. I want your way. I need him as prophet, priest, and king. I don't want to be anything but just one of your elect, saved by grace alone. That's my only hope's desire. is to be found in Christ, not having my own righteousness, but that righteousness which is in him the way.

" God makes us pleased with what he is pleased with. I told you in closing, we would go back to Proverbs. Let's do that now. Proverbs chapter 14, not 13. Now we have the two correlations, the two parallels. You have the wise and the foolish. You have the wicked and the righteous. You have the guilty and the innocent. This is all going to come out in these verses. And I want us to understand it's in light of everything I just said, how we approach God. If we approach him a way, or if we're made to approach him by the way, the Lord Jesus Christ, this is the difference. God is the, God is the difference. He's the one that maketh us to differ. Chapter 14, verse one, every wise woman buildeth her house. but the foolish plucketh it down with their hands. He that walketh in his uprightness, feareth the Lord. He's not saying if you walk in your uprightness, he's saying if you walk in his uprightness, you fear the Lord. But he that is perverse in his ways, despiseth him.

That's Hophni and Phinehas. It's false religion right there, isn't it? Where no ox are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of an ox. A faithful witness will not lie. God's pastors, God's preachers will not lie on God. They will not take his glory. He gets all of it. But a false witness will utter lies, the lie.

A scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not. But knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth. Who gave him the understanding? That's why it's easy. He said, they'll all be taught of me. Go from the presence of a foolish man. When thou perceiveth not in him the lips of knowledge, the wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way. His way? Well, wait a minute. What's his way? That's the way, isn't it? The wisdom of the prudent is the way, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our wisdom.

But the folly of the fools is deceit. Fools make a mock at sin. But among the righteous, there is favor. Favor with God because of Jesus Christ. The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy. The house of the wicked shall be overthrown, but the tabernacle of the upright shall flourish. Why? Because Christ is that tabernacle. Christ is that tabernacle.

There is a way which seemeth right, it seems right unto men, but the end thereof are the ways of death. There is a way, but the end thereof are the ways of death. There's many different ways, men think, but really there's only two. There's God's ways and man's ways. There's only one and two eternal life and one and two eternal death. May God cause us to see and rest in the way the Lord Jesus Christ. And thank God he provided the way, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do I believe that In a man-made way unto death, or do I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the way of God unto eternal life? Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would take this and bless it to our understanding for your glory. Thank you for being the way, cause us to believe. In Christ's name, amen.