Proverbs 19, and I would like
to look this morning at one verse, verse 16. Proverbs 19, 16. He that keepeth the commandment
keepeth his own soul, but he that despiseth his ways shall
die. The literal of that verse says
this, he who is keeping the commandment is keeping his own soul. He that
keepeth, you know I've told you about that ETH, you see that
on the end of a word, it's just a present progressive, it's just,
you know, he that cometh. It's just He that's coming, coming
and coming. He who is keeping the commandment
is keeping his own soul. But he that is despising his
ways shall die. Now, this is a promise that's
given by the Spirit of God. It's given by the Lord. The Lord,
remember, the Lord was the one that moved upon the writers to
pen these words. These words were written by holy
men, the Scripture says, as they were moved upon by the Spirit
of God. So when Solomon penned those
words, that wisdom by which he penned those words, the Lord
gave him that wisdom. So these are the words of the
Lord. Now this is a promise. God has
given a promise here. He that keepeth the commandment
keepeth his own soul. Now what he's saying is this. This
promise of life eternal is dependent upon obedience. Obedience. This bottom line right
here. Disobey God. Disregard God's Word, disregard
God's way, and you're going to die. That's just what it comes
down to right here. Now, here's what I want to know,
because I know that I am a sinner against God. I know that. I know what the Scripture says
concerning being born in sin. And the psalmist says, I was
conceived in sin. I came forth a liar. All of sin comes short of the
glory of God. Well, he that keepeth the commandment
keeps his own soul. He that despises his ways is
going to die. Now, I want you to notice He
that keepeth the commandment. The commandment. The commandment. Hold your place
right there and turn with me to Luke 10. Luke 10, 25. Luke 10, 25 to 28. What is the commandment that
is to be kept? That's he that keepeth the commandment. Luke 10. 25, 28. The scripture
says, and behold a certain lawyer stood up. Now this is not a lawyer
like we would think of a lawyer today, one that practices law
and stuff like that. This lawyer right here is one
that is one that is attempting to live by the law. That's what
he's talking about. He's talking about the scribes
and Pharisees, those that found their comfort and salvation in
their ability. Behold, a certain lawyer stood
up and tempted him. Now, he's not asking what he's
about to ask the Lord. He's not going to ask him this
just because he's really interested. He's got a reason for doing this.
He's going to try to catch the Lord in a discrepancy in the
law. What are you going to do? Aren't men foolish? You know,
you're going to catch the Lord. The lawyer stood up and tempted
him saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And the Lord in absolute wisdom
answers him on the ground that that lawyer tempted the Lord. You want to talk about what must
you do to inherit? You know, the Lord says in verse
26, what's written in the law? How readest thou? You want to
know what you must do to inherit? Well, what does the law say?
Well, that lawyer, He had his answer ready. He's prepared. He's prepared for the Lord. And
he answered and said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all
thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and
with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself. I bet he was proud of that answer. This is all you have to do. This
is all you have to do. And he said, that is the Lord,
unto him thou hast answered right. This do, and thou shalt live. Do that. You love the Lord thy
God. with all your heart, soul, strength,
and mind, and your neighbor as you love yourself. Whatever your
thoughts are concerning yourself and your preservation and your
good being, whatever it is concerning yourself, you love. And not just your next door neighbor,
the one that you kind of like, but I'm talking about every enemy
that you have, everybody. You do that and you're going
to live. You'll live forever. The Lord
told this lawyer that eternal life is not to be had without
absolute Perfect and complete obedience to God. I'm talking
about not just outwardly, I'm talking about inwardly. Look
at what the Lord told him. Love the Lord thy God with all
your heart, your soul, your strength, your mind. Not what everybody
sees you doing, but what you think, what you are. You love Him perfectly. In attitude,
outwardly, yes. Inwardly, too. And don't ever
let there be a discrepancy. Don't ever let there be a deviation
in your mind. Don't you ever deviate one time. You do that and you're going
to live forever. Because you've obeyed God perfectly. You've just, you've kept the
commandment. Well I've got three Short points
on this. Here's my first one. I know that this is a commandment
that must be kept for life eternal. I know that. I know that because the Lord
stated that. He said, you do this and you're
going to live. You know from the beginning,
obedience. was demanded for life. We considered Adam in the garden. What did the Lord say to him?
All the fruit you can eat of, but just one. Don't eat of that
one. You eat of that one, you're going
to die. You'll die. What is God's command concerning
obedience? Here it is, Deuteronomy 8.1.
All the commandments which I command thee this day shall ye observe
to do, that ye may live, and multiply, and go in, and possess
the land which the Lord sware to your fathers." Now, here's
the thing. All of the commandments, if you
love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, strength, soul,
and your neighbor, you love them perfectly. You do that, all these
other commandments will be included. You won't deviate from them.
You love God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength. You'll
do everything else too. Wholehearted obedience. Now I'm telling you right now. Now look, if we're going to approach
God on the merit of our obedience, I'm telling you, whatever is
to be done, whatever you think you're going to do, whatever
action you're going to take, whatever decision you're going
to make, whatever it is, it best be perfect. If you're willing
to stand before God based on the merit of your decision or
your will or your baptism, or your profession, or coming down
to the altar and praying through, or whatever it is, whatever it
is, understand this, it better not have ever deviated. You better
not have ever deviated from the beginning. You better have come
forth perfect, because if there's ever one deviation that's going
to be applied to your account, Deuteronomy 26.16, This day the
Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments,
and thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart
and all thy soul. There's no substitute for obedience. Now here's what it is. What must a man do to be saved
if he's going to be counting his salvation as far as what
he's going to have to do. What's he going to have to do?
He's going to have to be as perfect as God. He's going to have to
absolutely obey God perfectly. Well, what if he just, in a fleeting
moment, have you ever, I know you have, I've brought this up
before, have you ever been praying? And ever just deviated in your
prayer? I mean, just kind of let your mind just kind of wander
off for a second. Sorry. Sorry. If you're going to be basing
your salvation on your will and performance, you just condemned
yourself. Here's what Scripture said, James
2.10, Whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend In one
point, one point, he's guilty of all. He's guilty of all. Galatians 3.10, for as many as
are of the works of the law. Now this is what I'm saying.
Anybody that thinks that their salvation is based on what they've
done. Here's what scripture says, for
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Well, doesn't my profession count
for anything? No. Doesn't my decision, doesn't
my will, doesn't my baptism count for anything toward my salvation?
No. No. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but according to His mercy, He saved us. As many as are of the works of
the law are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them." I'm telling you, you keep Luke
10, 27. Love the Lord thy God with all
your heart, soul, strength, and mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. And the Lord said, You're going
to live. You do that, you're going to
live. So here's the first thing, my first point. I know what the
commandment is concerning the Lord. When that lawyer quoted
that verse right there, the Lord said, you're right, you're right.
You do that, you're going to live. Here's my second point. I can't do it. That's my second
point. That is a command that I cannot
keep. Romans 8.3 says this, Romans
8.3, For what the law could not do
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending His own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin. condemn sin in the
flesh. Now here's what that just said.
There's nothing wrong with God's law. The law of God is holy and
just and good. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
this world to keep God's law, establishing righteousness before
God by His obedience, for His people because they could not
keep God's law, because they were not in themselves able. There's nothing wrong with the
law of God. The problem is we can't keep
it. By the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Why? Because nobody can keep
it. The law is not going to bend
because a man gave it his best shot. I can't do it. Why? I'm weak. Here's the problem. I'm feeble. I'm powerless. I'm sick. John 6, 44. And men talk about coming to
the Lord. They come to the Lord. And I
know what they're saying because I've... in false religion for so long. I know what men say when they
say, come to Christ. False preachers will stand up
and they'll say, come to Christ, come to Christ. And what they're
talking about is walking down an aisle. I know what they're
talking about. They're talking about walking
down an aisle and taking a liar's hand and letting a lying preacher
Recite a prayer and you repeat it, you'll repeat it, and then
he'll ask you, did you mean it? And you'll say yes. You're not
going to tell him no. You're going to say him yes. And he'll say, well, you're saved.
You're saved. And you're saved because you
made a decision for Christ. You came to the Lord. I think it was either Brother
Scott or Brother Henry or somebody that said, Come to Christ and
don't move a muscle. Did that Brother Scott said that? I think it was. No truer statement
made. Come to the Lord. Come by faith. You've come to Christ and nobody
ever knows you're doing anything. You're just sitting there as
far as they're concerned. But listen to this. Here's what the
Lord said about that. He said, No man can come to Me. I looked up that word this morning,
come. No man can come. Because I know
what a false religionist thinks it means. Here's what the word
is. You look up this word, come. No man can come. Here it is.
No man can find a place in me. No man can be established
in me. No man can come. No man can find
a place in me, with me, to me, except the Father which has sent
me draw him. And I will raise him up the last
day. The Lord said 665, Therefore said I unto you that
no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my
Father. Here's the problem. We're commanded to come, but
no man can except. So I know what the commandment
is. Absolutely obey God and love your neighbor. Love the Lord
perfectly and your neighbor as yourself. But here's the problem. No man can do that of himself.
It doesn't change the fact. That doesn't change the fact.
You say, well, why would the Lord tell men that they have
to love Him and obey perfectly and they can't do that? Why? Because God's just. That's why. Whose fault was it that Adam
rebelled in the garden? God's? Man is spiritually dead. Totally depraved. But it does
not change the demand of God Almighty. It doesn't change.
God has not lowered His standard. Isaiah 1-6 says, From the sole
of the foot, even to the head, there is no soundness, but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores, not been closed up, neither mollified,
bound up. Man is a sinner against God. Now here's the problem. Here's
God's demand for life. Perfect obedience. Now you obey
and you're going to live. You disobey, you're going to
die. No man can do it. No man can do it. Here's my third and last point.
I got some good news. I got some good news. God Almighty
who is the just God, is the Savior. He's the rescuer. Almighty God has declared in
the glorious gospel of His grace some good news for sinners. I needed one to answer for me. Now, here's the bottom line.
I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner against God. And
I know what Scripture has to say about sinners. The soul that
sins is going to die. The soul that sins is going to
die. Wages of sin is death. Before the foundation of the
world, Almighty God, the just God, Savior of sinners, chose according to His own will
and purpose that was found only in Himself to show mercy. He was going to show mercy to
mankind. He purposed before the foundation of the world that
His Son was going to have a bride. And that bride was going to be
holy, and without blame before God in love. And God Almighty chose and gave
to the bridegroom a bride, chose her out of every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue, and said, I'm not going to let you perish.
I'm going to save you. I'm going to save you in spite
of yourself. And I'm going to do it in absolute
justice." And gave her to the surety. And the surety who has
always, ever, everlastingly been, before he was made flesh, the Lord Himself was, in the
beginning, was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word
was God. And in time the Word was made
flesh and all of His people that the Father had given Him were
in Him. And the Father looked to the
surety because He everlastingly loved a people that He had chosen
to show mercy. He gave them to the Son, and
He trusted, the first one ever trusted the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father, who first trusted in Christ. And He looked to Him
only. Never looked to the sheep. Aren't
you glad? Because there's none righteous,
no not one. God looked, saw all of sin, all, none righteous. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world. And with them in Him, mysteriously
in Him, He obeyed God. And He loved the Lord God of
Heaven, His Father. He who was the servant is the
servant of Jehovah, a man. A man obeyed God. The God-man. Totally God, totally
man. And a man obeyed God. A man was made sin by God, the
Father, for all that the Father had given him. And the Father
looking only to the Lamb, in absolute justice, judgment
and wrath, poured out an eternity of wrath and judgment, what would
have been eternity in judgment, Against those, had they dealt
or had to have been dealt with God on the basis of only themselves,
eternity, they would have been in hell against God. An eternity
of judgment for all of God's elect was poured out upon the
Lord Jesus Christ in one sacrifice. One sacrifice. I can't even get
my mind around that. But by one sacrifice for sin,
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, that are
set apart by God. You're mine. You're mine. You were dug out of the same
pit as everybody else, and I chose to show mercy to you. I chose
to make you a vessel of honor. And that He left the rest of
mankind to do what mankind wanted to do. He's right. He's right. Here's the demand,
absolute obedience. Here's the problem, I can't do
it. Here's the gospel, He has. And by God's infinite grace and
mercy, the Lord Jesus Christ obeyed God obediently, perfectly. This is my beloved Son whom I'm
well pleased. At that obedience, and here's
another mystery, a great mystery. He's robed us in His righteousness. In His days Judah shall be saved,
rescued, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this is His name
whereby He shall be called." What's the name of those that
the Lord has saved? What's their name? Those sinners
against God that God has chosen to show mercy, what's their name?
What's their name? The Lord our righteousness. You that believe, what's your
name? The Lord our righteousness. He's going to get all the honor
and glory and praise. Now listen, let me tell you something.
This is the message that Paul said, I'm not ashamed of this
message. I'm not ashamed of the glorious gospel of Christ. I'm
not ashamed of this gospel. Because only by this gospel can
it be said, therein, is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to
faith, from one degree of faith to faith to faith. Lord, increase
our faith. Lord, I believe. Help mine unbelief.
Faith grows. Faith grows. We learn to trust God. We learn
to trust God. Here's the truth. that is absolute. He that keepeth the commandment
keepeth his own soul. I know I can't keep it in myself
because of the frailty of my flesh. I can't keep that which
is demanded for righteousness. But thanks be unto God in His
infinite wisdom and mercy, He said, deliver them. from going down to the pit. I
found a ransom. Mercy of mercies. Grace beyond
my ability to describe it. Grace that one day, by God's
grace and mercy, I'll see more clearly. I'll see with perfect
eyes. I'll see Him as He is, and I'll
know Him, be like Him. Look unto me, and be ye saved,
all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. May God
have mercy on our souls. Give us a heart, Lord, according
to your everlasting covenant of grace. Save your people for
Christ's sake.