I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to Proverbs 16, verse 17. Proverbs 16, verse 17. The Scriptures declare that the
highway of the upright is to depart from evil. He that keepeth his way preserveth
his soul." Now, I've entitled this message, The Walk of a Believer. Romans 8 and 1 gives this promise. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. And when it says in, it means
in union with. Who walk, and that is agreeing
with. Not after the flesh or the dictates
of the old man, but after the Spirit. Now that verse that I just read,
Romans 8.1, tells us something about the attitude and the desire
of both a believer and an unbeliever. The unbeliever walks according
to the dictates of the old man. He is born with self-will, self-righteousness,
self-exalting. And all you've got to do to see
the evidence of that is to watch children when somebody comes
around with some of their stuff. That's mine. That's mine. But the believer, One regenerated
by the grace of God has his course of life, has his walk. It's different. He walks as the Lord guides him. You think, how does God guide
and direct? Right here. These Scriptures. by the Spirit of God to a new
heart, God's people are directed, they're guided, they're moved
by providentially. We know this. We know that the
steps of a good man, one made so by the grace of God, not in
himself. I know that. They're directed
by the Lord. Last Friday evening, our dear
friend, Brother Bob Wilson, the Lord received him unto Himself. And I thought to myself, I was
sitting there and standing there and I was looking at him, and
I thought to myself, I envy you. I envy you. I'm convinced that Almighty God
received him into His very presence. I believe that. I believe that. Consistency of a man's walk tells
something about what he believes, guided by God's Spirit. of a believer is one guided by
God's Word, God's Spirit, blessed to the new heart. It's one that
he takes heed concerning. A believer takes heed. Listen to this, Ephesians 4.1,
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you
walk worthy, that is, appropriately of the vocation wherewith you
call. I know we are not saved by works. I know that. I know that we are
not saved by works of righteousness that we have done. But I will
say this, a believer does walk with consistency
concerning what he knows about God's Word. He places no confidence
whatsoever in his flesh. He does not. But he walks with
consistency because of the one that has called him by grace
and given him a new heart. I'm not trying to do things for
Glenda to make her love me. I do what I do because I love
her. That's the reason. I'm not trying
to get her to change her mind or something. A believer walks
because the Lord has called him, given him a heart. Conduct yourself
in a way that is becoming to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
that name that you wear. Ephesians 5.2, walk in love. Walk in love of His Word. Walk
in love of His people. Walk in love for Him. Walk in love. as Christ also
loved us and given Himself for us as an offering and sacrifice
to God for a sweet smelling savor. Ephesians 5.15 says, See then
that you walk circumspectly, that is watchful, cautiously. Be aware. Be aware. Not as fools, but as wise. Well, this verse that we deal
with today describes the walk of a believer. Here again, God's
people are not trying to establish righteousness. Almighty God has
established their righteousness in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The righteousness by which a believer stands before
God, the holiness The rightness is His righteousness that He
earned. And Almighty God charges it to
His people. A believer has the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to him. So we are not walking
to establish righteousness. expresses the wisdom of God set
forth in the movement of God's Spirit upon that man that has
truly been taught something of himself and who God is. The highway,
the way, the walk of the upright, one made so by the grace of God
is to depart from evil, and he that keepeth his way preserveth
his soul." Now, we're going to learn something from that word
about God's people's walk. What is their highway? Well, here's what it says. The
highway of the upright is to depart from evil. Let me tell you what the heart
of that to depart from evil is. The highway of the upright is
to depart from not believing God. I know this. Sin is mixed with everything
that I do. I cannot not sin. I cannot. There is no way that
in this life the cause of the presence of sin that I can walk
perfectly. I do not have a perfect faith. Or the disciples would have not
asked, Lord, increase our faith. Lord, teach us. Lord, help us. O ye of little faith, great is
thy faith. Not sin against God. But I can
believe it. I can believe that by the grace
of God, that Almighty God does not charge me or impute iniquity
to me. I know what I am. I know that
in me, that is in my flesh. I know there dwells no good thing.
I know that. But I don't love it. So the way,
the walk, of the upright is to depart from not believing God. I want to believe God. I do believe
Him. Lord, help mine unbelief. Lord, keep me. Every man has got a way. Every man has got a highway.
Romans, I mean, Proverbs 4, 19 says, The way of the wicked is
as darkness. They know not. at what they stumble. They don't know that they work
or walk resisting God. They don't even know it. They don't realize that they
hate God, hate His Word. Now, if that's not so, then the
Lord would have never said they hated Me before they hated you.
So I know that every man born in Adam is born with a heart
that resists, that hates God. There is no love for God until
God gives a new heart. Not until He puts a new spirit
in you. So the way of the wicked, the way of the unbeliever is
as darkness. They know not at what they stumble. They don't realize they are pawns
in the hands of Satan. The Lord told the Pharisees,
you are of your father the devil. Well, they didn't know that.
They thought that they were so spiritual and so holy and so
upright that they could do no evil. Saul of Tarsus, before he was
Paul the Apostle, he said concerning the law, righteous. He thought he had never You know,
that rich young ruler that came to the Lord, the Lord says, what
does the Scripture say? And he started naming off all
the Ten Commandments. And what did he say? I've kept every one
of these from my youth up. No, you haven't. No, you haven't. Proverbs 15, 19 says, But the
way of the righteous is made plain. It's revealed. It's opened
by a new heart taught. by God's Spirit according to
the Word of God. So everybody walks after what
they truly want. That's what you do. Everybody
does what they want to do. The highway of the covetous is
to get all you can and can't all you get. But the highway
of the upright, those regenerated by God's Spirit, God's power,
His desire, His longing, Being a new creature in Christ, he
longs after obedience. Obedience. He longs and desires
to depart from evil. This is the definition where
it says to depart from evil. To turn off the way of evil,
like an exit. To turn aside from rebellion.
That's what he desires. I don't want to walk in rebellion. I don't. I don't. And it grieves
me when I see myself. I know. Not as I really am. I know that. I don't see the
depth of my rebellion. But I know something. I know
something about what the Apostle Paul says when he says, O wretched
man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? A believer desires to turn his
back toward the bondage of sin and to look straight into the
face of the liberty in Christ that he loves. That's what he
wants. That's what he desires. He sees
that he walks stained with the presence of sin and desires to
flee from it. He wants to. Oh, I know this. I know that by the grace of God,
Almighty God has taught His people something. They know what they
are and they desire Him to be kept by Him. Christ has put away
their guilt. But the believer hates the very
stain of sin that he sees with Him. But oh, the mercy of God! that is exhibited in that he
feels this. Let me tell you the greatest
comfort that I can see is to read, especially in that seventh
chapter of Romans where the Apostle Paul was reading how he struggled. Had I not read God's Word to
see that this is the way every believer, if you want to know
how a believer walks. This is how he walks. Struggling. Struggling. Oh, I tell you, when
I see or hear somebody tell me, you know, I'm always on the mountaintop. I'm always this. I'm always this. I think I'm not. I'm not. I rejoice in Christ Jesus. I'm thankful. But I'm telling
you, a believer is one that goes through this world struggling. Struggling with self. Struggling
with sin that he sees within and without. Oh, almighty God would teach
him, the highway of the upright is to depart from unbelief. the evil of unbelief. One time I was down in Mexico
and I was telling Cody what would happen is I would go into these
little pueblos and I'm standing there and here's a bunch of people
that can't understand one word I'm saying. And Cody is standing
here and I'll make a statement in English and he'll And I told
Cody, I said, Cody, you're interpreting for me. He said, no, I'm not
interpreting. He said, I'm translating. He said, an interpreter is one
that gives his thoughts. This is what I think about what
you're saying. One that translates is one that just tells you just
exactly What I said, Walter came up to me after one of the services
and he said, I tell you, he said, Cody is saying exactly what you're
saying. The way I say it, I mean, even
the the very inflections, you know, if I do like that, he'd
do like that. He just I mean, just exactly. He was absolutely
translating. He was saying what I said. This is what a preacher does.
We say. what God Almighty says. I absolutely,
and I'll be the first to admit, I rejoice in these truths right
here. I rejoice to set forth what God
has said about a man. Romans 7, 18, the Scripture says,
I know that in me that is in my flesh there dwelleth no good
thing. Somebody says, well, I think
there is a little good in all men. Well, God says there is
not. Not until Almighty God gives
them a new heart there is nothing there. I rejoice in this truth that
Almighty God has set forth that God from before the foundation
of the world chose a people that He was going to save. I believe in election. 2 Thessalonians 2.13, But we are
bound to give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
Do you know what I desire to do? I desire to walk in that
way right there. Somebody says, you believe in
election? Absolutely. Why? Because God says it. I believe
absolutely that when the Lord Jesus Christ died, I absolutely
believe that He died not for everyone without exception. Do you know why I don't believe
that? Because the Lord Jesus Christ said in John 10, 15, I
lay down my life for the sheep. And then about nine verses later,
when some Pharisees came to him and they said, how long are you
going to make us doubt what you're saying? Tell us plainly. And he said, I told you plainly.
And he said, you believe not because you're not my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice and they follow me. Someone says, are
you telling me that you're going to walk in the way to believe
God concerning particular redemption. Absolutely. Why? Because the
Lord Jesus Christ, because God said it so. Somebody will say, well, I just
don't believe that. Well, you let God be true and let every
man be a liar. We walk believing God. I believe in irresistible grace. John 6.37 says this, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise cast out. Somebody said, do you believe,
are you saying, you're saying that God chose a people from
before the foundation of the world that He was going to save? I said, absolutely. Ephesians
1.4 says that. 2 Thessalonians 2.13 says that. That's what He says. And they're
saying, you're saying that Christ only died for those sheep? I
said, God said that. I'm repeating it. I'm not an
interpreter. I'm a translator. I'm just telling
you what God said. They're saying that you're saying
that all that He chose and all that Christ redeemed, they're
going to be saved. They're going to be called. Yes.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me and Him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. And I'll tell you another
thing, too. They're never going to be lost.
They're never going to be lost. I give unto them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. Never! The highway of the upright is
to depart from evil. I want to believe God. I want
to believe God. And he that keepeth his way,
preserveth his soul. He that guards, that protects,
that obeys, hedges about, looks narrowly to. Now let me say this. Not that my keeping preserved
my soul. We are kept by the power of God.
But that I believe Him. To the preserving of my soul,
God Almighty has given me a heart that believes God. I believe that man was ruined
in the fall, that he was redeemed by the blood of Christ, and he'll
be regenerated by God's Spirit. I believe that. A believer desires to walk, to
believe God, to depart from evil. I want to believe that. And I
thank God that He'd give me a heart to believe it. I know this, for
me to not believe that, to die in unbelief of that, I'm going to perish. Because
that's the gospel. That's the gospel. Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. Romans 1.16. It is the power
of God and salvation to everyone that believes. A believer walks believing the
Lord. And he walks respectfully. I don't put any confidence in
my flesh, but I walk because I love Him. And I don't want
to be one that is giving men an opportunity to
blaspheme. I wrote this down, 2 Samuel 12,
13-14. David said to Nathan, whenever
David sinned against the Lord, I mean David, by taking Bathsheba,
he took Bathsheba, committed adultery with her, had her husband
killed. David was wrong. You talk about
the grace of God. Listen to this, God sent a prophet
to David, told him, he said, you're the man. You're the man.
And David said unto Nathan, I've sinned against the Lord. And
Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin. That's
by the grace of God. Thou shalt not die, how be it,
because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies
of the Lord to blaspheme. The child also that is born unto
thee shall surely die. David knew that Almighty God
was offended. And he knew, according to the
word of that prophet, that he had given occasion to the enemies
of God to blaspheme. See there? That's what they say.
There ain't nothing to that Christian stuff. Look at that guy. And it's only by the grace of
God that God didn't put David in hell. Only by the grace of
God. David believed God. stumbled
and God showed mercy to him. Thanks be unto Him who has not
dealt with us after our sins or rewarded us according to our
iniquities. So we know that a believer's
walk is the evidence of life. Not just his profession, a high
profession One that confesses, I believe
the gospel. I believe in free grace with
a low standard of living. Really doesn't believe it. He's
going to struggle. He's going to struggle. But I'm
going to tell you something. The Lord is going to correct
His people. I've told you before. Man, I'm telling you, ask any
of my kids. I told you don't do it. I meant
it. And the next thing was this belt. And I meant it. And it hurt me. I didn't want
to have to do that. But I was not going to allow
them to walk in rebellion. The Lord said, Everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall not enter into the kingdom of
heaven, but he that doeth the will." What is the will of the
Lord? He that doeth the will of the Lord. Here it is. John 6, 40. This is the will
of Him that has sent me. That everyone which seeth or
discerns the Son concerning the way that God has set him forth. concerning the way that God has
set Him forth. He that seeth the Son and believeth
on Him may have everlasting life." What is the will of the Father
that you believe on the Son? Believe on Him for life. True
faith moves a believer to strive after the Lord. Again, in closing,
not for righteousness, I could never establish righteousness
before God. I was born a sinner. I've walked
in rebellion until Almighty God called me out of darkness. I
did not care. And you didn't either. God's
people walk consistently because of their love. for him, not in
order to be saved, but because God has saved him. The highway
of the upright is to depart from evil. He that keepeth his way
preserveth his soul. Dearly beloved, Peter said, I
beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lust which wars against the soul. Lord, bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.