Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Psalms, Psalm 86. I would like to look
at verses 11 and 12. In this passage of Scripture,
the psalmist requests something that only a regenerated sinner
desires, the way of the Lord. The psalmist writes in verse
11, teach me thy way, O Lord. Man by nature is ignorant of
God's way. I know this because Jeremiah
5, verse 4 says, Therefore I said, Surely these are poor, they are
foolish, for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment
of their God. And when it comes to the way
of the Lord, now you think about that scripture. Teach me thy
way, O Lord. When it comes to the way of the
Lord, here's the standard. 2 Samuel
22, 31, As for God, His way is perfect. That's the way of the Lord. Perfect. Psalm 119, 104 says, I hate every
false way. So when we speak of His way,
the way of the Lord, I know that that's going to encompass the
totality of His will, of His pleasure, of His purpose, of
His manner, to bring about to His honor and to the good of
His sheep their redemption. and eternal salvation because
that was the request. Teach me Thy way. Here's a question for you, for
all of us. What is the way of the Lord? The psalmist says, Teach me Thy
way. Well, I know this from the revelation
of our Lord Jesus Christ. that the way of the Lord is not
a what, it's a who. I am the way. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
said. John 14, verse 6, I am the way. What is the way? What is the
way to God Almighty? What is the way that pleases
Him? Lord, what is your way? You said
your way is perfect, and you hate every false way. So for me to be taught the way
of the Lord is to be taught of the Lord Himself, the Lord
Jesus Christ. When we say, Lord, teach me thy
way, This is what we're saying. Lord Jesus, teach me of Yourself. First thing I know in that is
that we're ignorant because we just ask Him, teach me. Is there anybody here this morning
that doesn't need to be taught? I do. I'm so ignorant. I think on things that I think
I would have known better than that. Why do I think that? Like the Lord asked His disciples,
wherein did you doubt? Why did you doubt? I have never read one time in
all of these Scriptures, I've never read one time where the
Lord ever forsook one of His people. Everything that I've
read in here, I've looked at it and I see how it all came
about for the good of His people and the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Wherein did I doubt? Is He going
to change with me? Am I going to be the first one
that He's going to let down? He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. The way of the Lord never goes beyond. Teach me thy
way, O Lord. Teach me thy way. It never goes
beyond believing, looking to, trusting, coming to, hearing
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It never goes beyond that. Teach me thy way. It never goes
beyond hearing of Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. Here it is. I'm going to tell
you all of it. Hear Him. Just hear Him. Safest thing that a believer
can ever do Stay under the sound of the gospel of Christ. Stay
there. Stay there. What else do I do? Stay there. Hear Him. That's it. The Spirit of God
will guide you. God will direct. He will teach. Just hear Him. Teach me thy way. Paul said, Oh, that I may know
Him, the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings
made conformable unto His death. I want to be taught that. Hear
him. I told you what Brother Henry said one time. He said,
stay under the gospel. If you've got a question, he
said, in time, according to God's pleasure, it'll be answered.
Stay there. Stay. Teach me. To be taught His way. Teach me
Thy way is to know Him as our peace and our wisdom, our sanctification,
redemption, righteousness. To be taught the way of the Lord
is to be taught that Christ is God's way of salvation. That verse we quoted last time,
this is life eternal that they may know Thee. This is how God
teaches His people. Teach me Thy way. Hear Him. Let me ask all of us this question.
To be taught the way of the Lord, where else would you go? Where
else are you going to go? Is there another message? Is
there another Christ? Is there another gospel that's
going to teach you? Are you going to be taught the
way of the Lord by trying to live before Him, keeping His
law? It's not going to happen. No,
no. By the deeds of the law shall
no man be justified. Where are you going to go? The
law? A man named Simeon, Just, the
Scripture says, and devout man, one who waited for God's Christ,
was in the temple one day. And Mary brought in the child
Jesus, the Scripture says, and Simeon took the child in his
arms. And he said this, Lord, now lettest
thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine
eyes have seen thy salvation." Almighty God taught Simeon the
Lord's way. Here is, teach me thy way. Teach me of Christ. When I'm taught of Him, I'll
be taught something of myself, believe me. I'll be taught something
of man's nature. I'll be taught something. Almighty God put a desire in
old Simeon's heart, and he waited, and he saw. Isn't it a wonder, of all wonders,
that Almighty God would teach us anything? But if God's going
to teach us anything, He's going to teach us concerning His Son. No man has seen the Father at
any time. The only begotten Son, He hath
declared Him. Everything we know is going to
be concerning Him. It's amazing that we would even
have a hunger to even desire to be taught the
way of the Lord. That's a speech right there of
a believer. A believer, until he leaves this
world, teach me thy way, O Lord. No man, no woman that has ever
been called out of darkness goes beyond that. Teach me thy way. But where this desire is found,
if God has truly given a man or a woman a desire to be taught
the way of the Lord, where that desire burns within the heart
of a regenerated sinner, listen to the resolve. I will walk in thy truth. For God Almighty has given a
person a desire, truly a desire, There is a resolve that is based
totally, not on a man's self-confidence, but on the sovereign Word of
God. Lord, You give me a heart to be taught Your way. Lord,
if You've placed that desire within my heart, You'll keep
me too. Teach me thy way, O Lord, I will
walk in thy truth." You know, one would think that the Scripture
would say, you teach me thy truth and I'll walk in your way. No. You teach me thy way. You teach
me of Christ. You give me a heart for Christ.
You give me a heart to see Him as the way. And Lord, you'll
also keep me in truth. I walk in truth. That word walk
has to do with an attitude of living. It's an attitude. The believer
doesn't trust his own ability, but he gives Almighty God all
the praise and honor and glory for keeping him. Lord, if you've
taught me, you'll keep me. Paul says, I know whom I have
believed. And I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. Teach me Thy way, O Lord, I will
walk in Thy truth. What is it? Now remember, to
walk is an attitude. That's an attitude. What is it
to walk in the Lord's truth? What is it? I know this, first
of all, it's an attitude. I know that to walk in God's truth,
first of all, is to believe Him. I know that. We walk in truth. Who has believed our report?
Let God be true. Let every man a liar. His truth is a faithful revelation. And it never fails and it never
wavers to walk in God's truth. Teach me of Christ and I'll walk
in thy truth, who is Christ Himself. I'm the way, the truth. Teach me of Him. If we receive
the witness of men, the Scripture says the witness of God is greater,
for this is the witness of God. which he hath testified of his
Son." We walk in God's truth when we believe Him. That's a
miracle of God's grace. Who hath believed? I report.
To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? The power of God. To walk in His truth. Secondly,
I know we walk in His truth when we actually exhibit what we believe. James 2.20 says, But wilt thou,
O vain man, know that faith without works is dead? I want to read something to you.
Proverbs. I was studying through Proverbs trying to struggle and read. But in Proverbs 12, 17, listen
to this. He that speaketh truth showeth
forth righteousness, but a false witness deceits. He that speaketh
truth showeth forth. Now, I can understand that he
that speaketh truth. A believer is going to speak. He's going to say out of the
abundance of his heart. He's going to say it. But the
issue with this Scripture, Proverbs 12, 17, it says, He that speaketh
truth, showeth forth righteousness. He manifests it. He exhibits
it. You know, isn't it an amazing
thing how the Scripture speaks of walking, obeying, keeping
the Lord's words, But it never gives you a list of what they
are. They that are led by the Spirit
of God, they're the sons of God. The works that James spoke of,
Wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead,
are not works that establish righteousness before God. You
know there's none. Not no works of a man's own doing
establishes righteousness. By the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. Romans 11, 6, if it's by grace,
then it's no more works. Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But the works spoken of by James,
though they're not works, that establish our righteousness before
God are evidences of a new heart. James even gave an example when
he wrote James 2. I'll read this to you. Verse
15-16, If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily
food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye
warmed and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things
which are needful, to the body, what does it profit? Then the
next verse says, even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead
being alone. Someone says, well, what am I
supposed to do? They that are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the sons of God. True faith evidences itself. A man walks by faith. How do you know what a man believes
by what he does? And he's not going to do it to
establish righteousness or maintain his righteousness. He's saved
by the grace of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that not of yourself. It's a gift of God. But I'm going
to tell you something, a believer is going to just manifest the
grace of God, works of faith, labor of love. He just acts like
a believer. He's a gracious person. He's
faithful. Men walk in God's truth when
there's an evidence. That's what James is setting
forth. Men are justified, Paul said, before God, not by works. Men are justified
before God by faith. But I can't see your faith. I
can't see in your heart. Men are justified before God
by faith. I don't know what's in you, but
men are justified before others by the evidence of that faith.
They act like they're faithful people to the gospel. They're
faithful. And they're not trying. They're
not trying to See if I can come up with works. They're not trying
to. They just evidence it. A cat's not trying to make you
believe he's a cat by acting like a cat. He's not trying to
make you. He's a cat. He acts like a cat. And thirdly, we walk in truth
when we believe God, when we manifest that belief, And thirdly,
when we continue in what we believe. I've heard it said it's not how
a man starts a race, but how he finishes it. When I was in high school, I
ran track. Just the way that my body is
constructed, my waist is a lot taller, higher, than, I guess,
normal people. I just got a high waist. And
so, you know, because my legs are longer in proportion to my
body, I would run, and I ran the open quarter the one time
around. And when we would come out of
the, when we'd start, the gun would fire. And I'm telling you,
some of those guys that I was running against, Man alive! I could not come out of the blocks
as fast as they could. My legs didn't move as fast as
theirs did. We would come into the first
turn and I was always last in the first turn. Always. But then
on the straightaway, something happened. Because my legs were
longer, And I measured one time, we measured from where my left
foot would hit to where my right foot would hit. It was nine and
a half feet when I'd get going. And so we started making up some,
you know, yards pretty quickly. Once I got going as fast as their
legs were going, I was just taking about two, two and a half more
feet per step. And things changed. And by the
time we got to the finish line, a lot of times, not always, but
a lot of times, the outcome was favorable. It wasn't how it started. It's how it ended. The Scripture says, God's people are kept by the
power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. True salvation is forever. God's
people remain. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy
has begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. Teach me Thy
way, O Lord. Teach me of Christ. Show me Christ. Cause me to know Him. Give me
a heart after Him. Give me a heart to hear Him and
to believe Him. Lord, You give me a heart and
I will walk in Thy truth. Not by my own ability, but because
You've kept me. Because You've maintained me. One that's taught of the Lord
is kept by the Lord. One that walks in God's truth
evidences that truth and continues in that truth. They believe God. They continue. They walk after
Him in that labor of love. They believe God. faithful, never
trusting themselves. And they stay there. And all
the while, they are sensitive to not dishonor His name. Teach
me Thy way, O Lord. I will walk in Thy truth. Unite
my heart to fear Thy name. Bind me, Lord. Join me. Let my heart be single toward
Christ. I don't want to dishonor you. I don't want to disrespect you. I can't tell you how many times
I will step out of this pulpit. I've told you that before. How
many times I've stepped out of this pulpit just thinking, oh,
I hope I didn't dishonor Him. I hope I didn't say something
that was misconstrued. Just the very thought of dishonoring
Him, being a disappointment to Him. Somebody would say, well,
yeah, but you know what? We're just sinners. Don't say
that to me. Don't tell me that. Don't give me ammunition to feed
my flesh. I've got all I need by myself,
okay? Lord, unite my heart to reverence
Your name. I want to be respectful. I want
to walk after Him. The unbeliever is a double-minded
man. That's what the Scripture says.
One that appears to have two souls. Double-minded. That's
what it means. Two-souled man. One that he tries
to set forth that he supposes he's concerned with heavenly
things, and the other one that's obvious that he's got a heart
for the world, double-minded. I'm telling you, we all struggle
with that. An unbeliever, he's not concerned
with God's reverence. Unite my heart to fear thy name. The fear of the Lord, the reverence
of God, that's the beginning of wisdom. God's people, they
want to be taught of Christ. They want to walk after Him. They want to be consistent after
Him. And they struggle all the while with it. And while they're
struggling with it, while they're wanting to be, they have no confidence
whatsoever in their flesh. None! And all the while while
they're struggling, they say, Lord, unite my heart to fear
You and reverence You. And one whose heart has been
united to Christ, united to reverence and respect to Him, says in closing,
I'm just going to read the 12th verse, I will praise Thee, O
Lord my God. I'm going to thank You. That's
what that means. I'll thank You. I will praise Thee, O Lord my
God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Thy name forevermore.
I will honor You." What, by my works? No. I will honor Him as being a trophy
of His grace. God Almighty is honored by keeping
His people. They don't keep themselves. that in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace. God is honored in
saving and keeping His people. All that is done is done by Him. He works all
things after the power of His own will. What have we done? We are the recipients of His
grace. When we've done all that we do,
we're just unprofitable servants. We've not added anything to His
power, His deity. He is honored by saving us and
keeping us. And we have one thing to say.
Lord, unto You, unto you all honor and praise and glory, to
your name, for Christ's sake, Amen.