Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 14, verse 12. Proverbs
14, verse 12. As we continue in this blessed
book, the scriptures declare, the scriptures
says, there is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end
thereof are the ways of death. The surest way, I've heard, to
expose that which is wrong is to establish that which is right. Lay down a stick that you know
is straight. I told you about Brother Scott
telling me, he said, you sit down, you lay down God's immutability. Lay that down. God never changes. God doesn't deviate. There's
no shadow of turning. Nothing changes with God. You
lay that down and you build everything you preach on God's immutability. And he said, you won't go wrong.
And I followed that one away real fast. Put it right there
where I can bring that into memory. I told you somebody told me one
time when they were teaching people how to find counterfeit
money, how to detect counterfeit money. They just let them handle
good money. That's all they handled was good
money. They never showed them, never did try to show them what
a counterfeit bill was like. Just show them what a good bill
was like. And when you pick up a counterfeit, you'll know it. I guarantee you, a believer sitting
under the sound of the gospel, hearing the gospel, hearing the
truth, listening to the glory of God in Christ, praise to almighty God, when
they hear something that's not right, they'll come out. Like
Brother Scott told me one time, I read a sentence to him, a man
that I love and respect, he's dead, he's one of the old, old
writers. Brother Scott said this, I wish
he'd have said that a different way. God's people want to hear the
truth. And when it comes to approaching
the thrice holy God, and we know that we shall, it is appointed
unto man once to die. We're all going to go the way
of all men. The Apostle Paul says we're not
all going to sleep. There shall be, according to
the Scriptures, there's going to be some that are alive when
the Lord returns. There's going to be some people
are on this earth doing what men do when the Lord Jesus Christ
returns. The scripture says, I read this
morning, it says, as the lightning goes from the east to the west,
so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. I mean, before you
knew it happened, it was over. I know it's going to happen. finish the sentence. In a day
that you think not, on such a day shall the Lord return. Oh, that almighty God might call
this sinner to be ready. Ready. When it comes to approaching
God, approaching Him in peace, approaching Him When it comes to that, I want
to know what does the Lord have to say about it. You know, we
shall not do wrong if we consult the Lord in His Scriptures. That's
all that I want to do. That's all you want to do. That's all you want. All I want
to know is what does God have to say? And just forget the rest
of it. What does the Lord have to say?
Here's what the Lord Jesus Christ has to say. John 14, verse 6. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, Now I want to know what he meant. I don't want to know what men
says he meant. I want to know what he says he
meant. I don't want somebody else's opinion. The Lord said
that he is the way. Some fellas that went to pick
him up, they had been some of the Pharisees sent some fellows
to go over there and pick up the Lord. We'll deal with it,
Lord willing, in chapter 7. And they got to talking to the
Lord when they were going to go pick him up, and they didn't
pick him up. They went back to the rulers
without him. The rulers asked him, they said,
didn't we send you to get him? And this is what they said, never
man speak like this man. No, we didn't get him. The Lord
Jesus Christ said, I am the way. I am your salvation. I am your pardon. I am your peace. I am your righteousness. I am
your life. Those that the Father has given
Him, those that He has redeemed, Those that He laid down His life
for, this is who He is. He is the way. He's not merely
a prophet to teach us the way. He is the way. Let me explain. I need a righteousness to stand
before God. Flesh and blood is not going
to inherit the kingdom of God. I'm going to have to be changed.
This mortal strength put on immortality. I have no righteousness of myself. I need to stand before God righteous. He is our righteousness. We have nothing to brag in save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and all that is set forth and
implied when it says Him crucified. And you know what I mean when
I say when the Lord died, not to make it possible, He secured
salvation. Almighty God will only be approached
by His priest. I cannot, men may say, men may
think, I can approach the Lord. I can call upon the Lord in any
way that I want to, when I want to, how I want to. No, you can't.
No, you can't. Almighty God is going to be approached
only by His priest and His great high priest, His Son. His great priest is the God-man. The Mediator. The one that can
touch both parties being personally both parties. That's a Mediator. He is the Mediation. Everything
goes through Him. God speaks to men through Him.
Through Christ. And men speak to God through
Christ. He is the Mediator. Almighty
God is not going to talk to a man without Christ. This son has
satisfied Him as a man. He is the mediation. He is the way. No man comes to
the Father but by Me. You bow past Him, you're dead. Are you trying to bow past Him
when you say it like this? God's wrath must be appeased
for us. God is just. God is not. at the expense of His justice.
Let a man off. I mean, I know it sounds good,
but no, I'm a just God and a Savior that sold His sin is going to
die. Where sin is found, death. Why do you think the Lord died?
He was made sin. Made sin. Christ is our God accepted his offering that
he supplied. God shall send his son. God will supply himself. God's lamb is God's sacrifice. All of my appeals, all of my
cries, all of my tears will never put away sin. Blood, without the shedding of
blood. Not just any blood. perfect blood, holy blood, God
himself. Salvation is not an event, it's
a person. Like the resurrection when the
Lord told Martha, Martha, I am the resurrection. Simeon, when
he saw the child, the Lord Jesus said, Lord, lettest thou thy
servant depart in peace according to thy word from mine eyes? have
seen thy salvation. I've seen your salvation. I've seen your way. I've seen
your truth, your life. So according to God's Word, the
way to the Father is the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verse 12,
there is a way that seemeth right unto a man. Now that ought to
tell us that there is a thought process when men begin to think
about dying, salvation, and everybody and their brothers talking about
it. Everybody's talking about salvation. Everybody's talking
about the Savior. Everybody's making reference
to. There's a way that's seen it.
Right. Convinced of it. It seems right. Now, let's listen to this. And
I do, because of my old nature that's there, that's still with
me, saying that I understand. I understand this thought process. I don't agree with it, but I
understand it. I know that it seems right to
the carnal man. I know that it seems right that
God loves everybody. I can understand that. I'm not
saying I don't understand. I do understand how the natural
man would think. Well, God loves, I mean, He's
God. God is love. God has got people. God loves everybody. But the
only problem with that is that the scripture says that God doesn't
love everybody. He didn't love Esau. He said
he hates every worker of iniquity. Now let me ask you this. Who
do you think is right? Who's right? It seems right that
Christ died for everybody. I understand that. I understand
it. I understand that men say that
he shed his blood to make it possible. I understand that.
The only problem is that the Lord said, I lay down my life
for the sheep. And he told some Pharisees, he
said, you're not my sheep. I know my sheep. And you're not
part of them. Now, let me ask you this. Men think that they have a free
will, and that they must accept the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
But do you know what the Scripture says? There is a way that seemeth
right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. I do understand this, until Almighty
God gives a man a heart to believe this, and I'm going to believe
it. I know that. I know that. How do I know that? Because the Lord says, I'm going
to give you a new heart. I'm going to give you a new spirit.
I'm going to put my law, my word, in your heart. And I will be,
now that you understand it, I'll be your God and you'll be my
people. Now until Almighty God opens a man, a woman's heart,
they don't know that. They just don't know it and they
don't believe it. There's a way that seemeth right. In the fall, man's ability to
know God, to perceive God's presence, God's pleasure, was taken away. He died spiritually. And now the scripture says that
man is blind to God's way, to God's truth. Now to you that
believe The Lord Jesus Christ, salvation by grace, totally,
all of it, grace through faith. You know it. And you believe
it. And you rejoice in it. But until the Lord opened your
eyes, you didn't. You didn't. But this is what
God has to say about man's law in Adam. Genesis 6-12, God looked
upon the earth and behold, it was corrupt. It was ruined. And
all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Disobedience corrupted man's
communion and fellowship and peace with Almighty God. Worse still, man still can't
reconcile himself back to God. Jeremiah 10.23, O Lord, I know
that the way of man is not in himself. Now let me ask you something. Does that say that the way of
man is not in himself? This is the last part of it.
It's not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Now let me ask you this. My question
is this. Who's right? Who is way that
singeth right." Who's right? Man is hopelessly depraved. I heard someone say this. This
is true. By the restraining grace of God,
men may not be as bad as they could be by God's restraint.
I know this. If God didn't restrain evil in
this world. There's no end to it. If God didn't restrain it. But
when we speak of total depravity, this is what it means. There
is no part, no part of a man's being, his intellect, mind, spirit,
what have you, there's no part of him that's not been corrupted
by sin. That's what it means, total depravity.
Doesn't mean that he is as bad. Now I do understand, there's
been some man that's done some heinous things in this world,
and I understand that. But let me tell you this, being
born in Adam, there's no difference in me and anybody else. There's
no difference in me and the worst evil person that's ever walked. It's the restraining grace of
God that was the only thing that kept the man back. The wrath of man shall praise
thee, and the remainder thou shalt restrain. God will hold
it back for the elect's sake. That's the only reason that there's
not total chaos. Man is totally depraved. Every part of his being is corrupted. He can't think, he can't see,
he can't hear spiritually. Dead. Depraved. Now the result
of that disobedience is that all men, blindly, When all we, like sheep, have
gone astray, we turn everyone to his own way. The way of the unregenerate seems
right because their heart lies to them. The heart is desperately
wicked, and it's deceitful above all things. Who can know it?
Man, in his being, in his spirit, in his heart, He's lied to by
himself, and when you realize the worst enemy that a man's
got is himself. Man despises God. Now you write this down. The
way that seems right, seems to be straight, seems to be direct,
if it has anything to do with you. It's wrong. It's empty. There is, the scripture says,
there is a way which seemeth right. All ways of man's invention
is summed up in a way. A way. That way that seems to
be right is always the way of self-righteous works. It's always
the way of a man having confidence in his own ability, Righteousness,
if your hand touches it right now, it's wrong. If your hand
has to make salvation accomplished, it's wrong. This is a way that
seems right to man. This is a way that every unregenerate
thinks. Judges 17.6 sums up man's thinking. In those days there was no king
in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own
eyes. A believer thanks God because
he wants to be nothing, he is nothing, except what Almighty
God has set forth that man to be. When Almighty God sets forth
that the Lord Jesus Christ is God's way, The believer says
in his heart, ìLord, you are the way.î No matter what men
say, let them ask this question, ìDoes my salvation depend on
something that I can do in order to please God?î If thatís the thought, itís the
way of death. False hope is always built on
self-righteousness, and man will hold on. to his own self-righteousness
until either the Spirit of God stops him in the way. Just like
the Lord stopped Saul of Tarsus on the way. You talk about a
perfect picture of men being stopped, going on. There was
a religious man. Paul was a religious man. Stopped
him. Saul? Saul. Why persecute us without me?
Who are you, Lord? Here is Saul of Tarsus claimed
to be better, more righteous than anyone else that he knew.
You think you've got something to brag on? Paul started listing
all of those things. Who are you, Lord? I'm Jesus,
and thou'st persecuting, you're persecuting me. Lord, what would
you have me to do? That's the heart of the belief.
That's the life of God's sheep, regenerated by God's Spirit.
You consider the mercy of God to tell a man on his way to Him. This is the way. This is the
right way. This is God Almighty in Christ. Here's the right way. Here's
the handling of the true, the true bills, the true money. This
is the truth. This is the right way. Almighty
God infinitely, everlastingly chose to show mercy in Christ. Almighty God set forth His decision,
His will, His purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Almighty
God who chose to show mercy to a people that He chose according
to His good pleasure. This is the right way. This is
the only way. There is no other way but this.
No other message. No other gospel. God Almighty
chose to show mercy. And out of every nation, and
kindred, and tribe, and tongue, God Almighty selected elected, chose, distinguished. He chose certain ones that he
was going to show mercy to. Now this is it. This is the only
way. God Almighty gave those to his
Son in that everlasting covenant of grace The surety, the Lord
Jesus Christ, God's elect. God's elect. And we elected in
Him. God chose Christ as the surety. The high priest, He chose Him. And the Lord Jesus Christ everlastingly
stood as the surety. He stood as their representative. I will redeem them before they
had ever fallen. God knew they were going to fall.
God saw them eternally in Christ and saw the accomplishment of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The blood shed from before the
foundation of the world. And God was satisfied and justified
them, declared them not guilty before they ever fell. before
He ever brought them forth in time. God knew them. I knew you
before I poured you in the belly. I knew you. I've always known
you. I've always chosen you. I've
always loved you. This is the only way. God Almighty
chose to show mercy to whosoever He would. Gave them to His Son. And in time, they, that they
knew, that the Father, Son, and Spirit knew they were false.
It would need to be redeemed. His mercy. His mercy. And Christ came into this world,
a body would compare Him. He came in the form of sinful
flesh, yet without sin. And He walked this earth absolutely
in obedience before God Almighty. And the Father saw every one
of them. in His Son, every one that He
had chosen. That's His sheep, that's His
bride, that's His elect, that's His people that He everlastingly
loved. And seeing them in His Son as
He walked, here we were in His mystical body. And obediently
we walked before God Almighty in Christ, in a substitute. And
God Almighty saw in Christ Satisfying God Almighty in Him. He did it. And we in Him. And He went to that cross. And
we still in Him. Always been in Him. God put us
there. Brother Scott, remember where God put a man? God kept
a man. And Almighty God walked, the Lord Jesus Christ walked
before Almighty God, His Father, God and man. And went to the
cross. forsaken of the Father. And there
was all of us in Him, under the judgment of Almighty God, crucified
with Him. And God Almighty spewed out His
indescribable and eternal wrath in one offering. By one offering
He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, set apart
by God's choice. When He died, He died. And our
old man, our old man, our old man is crucified with Him. Our
old man is crucified. All that we deserved, we died
in Him. Under the penalty of the justice
and the judgment of God Almighty. When He was buried, we were buried.
And when He came out three days later, He came out for, or because
of, And how do we know that God justified
us? Christ died for us, justified
by His blood. How do we know that He is justified
by faith? The evidence of our justification
is faith. Not because of our faith, but
the evidence of God's free justification before Himself in Christ is that
we believe it. We believe this gospel. And when
He was raised, we came out with it. And when He ascended, we
ascended with Him. And now we're seated with Him
right now, glorified with Him. You say, I'm not here in this
earth. In your body you are. But in God's eternal purpose,
you're there. You're there with Him. Now I'm
telling you, in due time, Almighty God, this is the gospel. Almighty God has set forth that
Christ is the way. He's the way. Now, any other
message seems to be right. And it's the ways of death. I'm
telling you, this is the truth. May Almighty God bless this message
to the salvation of His people. And if the Lord has blessed this
message to your heart, and God has given you faith to believe
it, confess Him in baptism. Confess Him before men. Confess
Him and tell Him, you know what? God saved me. God's opened my
eyes. God has shown me that He's the
truth. He's the light. He's the way.
William Mason, I'm going to close with this. William Mason wrote
this beautiful poem. He said, Oh Christ, who are the
only way unto eternal life, preserve and keep my soul each day from
unbelief and strife. There are many ways that lead
to death which foolish men pursue. Lord, keep me in the way of faith,
the only way and truth.