Turn with me this morning to
the Old Testament book of Jeremiah chapter 10. Jeremiah chapter
10. A brother in Christ recently
texted me this verse of scripture found here in Jeremiah chapter
10, verse 23. As I read this verse, I was again
reminded that we can do nothing unless the Lord Jesus enable
us. He said, without me, you can
do nothing. Nothing means nothing. It always
has, it always will. It doesn't mean you can do some
things or you can do a few things. It means that you can't do anything.
You can't do nothing without Christ. And then the scriptures
says that in me, you can do all things. So we must conclude that
we need Christ, desperately need Christ. That's why when we plan
to do this or that, we should always add those words, the Lord
willing. You ever noticed people say that,
well, the Lord willing. Why do we say that? Because the
Lord may not be willing. He may not be willing, and that's
what this verse before us deals with. The Lord willing, those
three words distinguishes who it actually is that's in control
of all things, especially our salvation. And I add that because
I heard a preacher say once, not a true preacher, he wouldn't
have said this if he was, but he said, I believe the Lord is
sovereign and in control of all things except salvation. He leaves that up to you. Well,
I know this much, if that's the case, I'm in a heap of trouble,
big trouble. We've all heard the expression,
so-and-so walks to the beat of their own drum. Not so. Nobody walks to the beat of their
own drum, no matter who they are. No one, no one, everyone,
everyone is influenced by something or someone. To declare that anyone
is independent, now hear me on this, is independent in their
own thinking and actions with the exception of sin, That belongs
to us alone. That's something I do pretty
good on my own. Sin is a denial of the existence
of God. Well, Brother David, that's being
a little extreme. No, it's not being extreme enough.
We have learned over the years to just let these little things
go. Just say, well, I know what he
meant or no. If a man or woman can be independent
of God, dependent on themselves to provide everything that they
need, especially salvation, and many today claim just that, then they are making themselves
equal with God. Oh, that's a bit extreme, not
extreme enough. But it's not so. God said in
Isaiah 44 verse six, thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first, I am the
last, and beside me there is no God. That's pretty straightforward,
isn't it? That's what God said. He added
in Isaiah chapter five, 45, excuse me, there is none beside me,
I am the Lord, and there is none else. No other God. It was God who asked in that
same passage, who hath declared from ancient time, who hath told
it, have not I, the Lord, and there is no God else beside me,
a just God and a savior, there's none beside me. Isaiah chapter 45 reveals many
things about the Lord. It would do us all good to go
and read that whole chapter and read it often. The Lord forms
the light and creates darkness. Creates darkness? The Lord makes
peace and creates evil. The Lord creates evil? Evil doesn't come from God, but
God allows the evil within man to accomplish his will. God said,
I, the Lord, do all these things. That's capital L-O-R-D. It means the self-existent one. It means he who brings into existence
whatever exists. He created all things alone.
In the beginning was God. God the Father, God the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. Who was with God? Nobody. God
was by Himself. And listen, He wasn't sad and
unhappy and said, you know, I've got to get me a few friends here.
So I'm going to make man and I'm going to make woman. and
have some fellowship. God was self-existent and just
as happy alone. No one but God spoke this universe
into existence. And he spoke it into existence when there was nothing that existed. Nothing to take a little of this
and a little of that and put it together. No, He created it
from scratch by just His Word. He's the capital, L-O-R-D. God asked, where were you when
I laid the foundations of the earth? That's a good question.
I'd like to ask that man that said that he was in control of
his own salvation, where was he when God laid the foundations
of the world? Just as God created the heaven
and the earth, God creates and God spoke light and there was
light. God must speak light to our cold, dead, void hearts in
order for us to have light. In Isaiah chapter 45, God warned,
woe unto him that strives with his maker. Strive, you know what
that means. It means to fight. It means to
battle, to be combative, to contend in war against God, his maker. Strive means to be hard and attempt
and undertake and make every effort to dethrone God. Now that's
impossible, but that's exactly what religion today is trying
to do. They're trying to dethrone God and put themselves on God's
throne. Aren't you being a little hard? I'm not being hard enough. Hear me when I tell you that
to profess that you can walk according to the beat of your
own drum, which means do your own will, have your own way,
and work to merit your own salvation is to strive with your Maker. God declares that all things
come to pass by what? The counsel of His will, as the
capital L-O-R-D, Lord, who is the first cause of everything. No sinner is independent of God
to save themselves by will, a way or a work that they do. And that's
what makes the majority of what is preached today and proclaimed
today so dangerous. I believe Brother Mahan told
me one time, be careful what you say, somebody may believe
you. And many have believed these wolves in sheep's clothing. I used to be a preacher in false
religion. I'm not proud of it, but that's
what I was. I'm not just trying to pick on
folks because they believe differently than I. There's the truth and
then there's the false. And God be with me and help me
to preach to you always the truth. Dangerous stuff. It's always
been that way with fallen and sinful men and women. Adam and
Eve endeavored to cover themselves with a work of their own hands.
Isn't that what they did? They sewed fig leaves together. Genesis 3 verse 7 tells us that
after they sinned and saw that they were naked, these two words
just stick out, they sewed. They did it. God didn't do it. They sewed together fig leaves
and they covered themselves. But you see friends, man's fig
leaves will not cover him because when the vine, when the leaves
are separated from the vine, our fig leaf covering dies and
crumbles. It's like a branch that's separated
from the vine of the tree, just withers. dries up and crumbles. What's it good for? Throw in
the fire. Now look at our text here in
Jeremiah 10, verse 23. It's important to know, first
of all, the setting of this chapter. It takes place during the time
when the people of Judah are on the brink of Babylonian captivity. They're facing impending destruction
from a king named Nebuchadnezzar, And it's all their fault. Well,
God, what did we do to deserve this? Nebuchadnezzar coming down
here and doing this to us. Plenty. You did plenty to cause
it. I've been telling you, no idol
worship, serve no gods other than me, and that's all that
you've done ever since I delivered you out of Egypt. You're still
serving those same gods on the other side of Jordan. Nothing's
changed. We've seen it in our studies
of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Joshua, Judges. It tells us over and over and
over again that man did what was right in their own eyes due to their idolatry and disobedience
towards God. God sends this trouble and He
alone is the cause of this imminent destruction. What Jeremiah says
here in verse 23 applies to him and it applies to us and every
man or woman born, including Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah, God's
prophet, is strongly condemning Nebuchadnezzar, but he's also
condemning Israel's actions and he's condemning our actions if
this is what we're doing. It's easy for God to accomplish
multiple things at once, because He's God. He's a multitasker. He's the
best. He can do anything and everything.
And in verse 23, Jeremiah is praying and lamenting to God,
and he says, now look at these words, O Lord, I know that the
way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh
to direct his steps. Anything about that you don't
understand? That's pretty plain, isn't it? Pretty simple. You
see, the reality is this, friends. If you can make your own decisions,
your own choices, if you can make your own way, if you can
do your own thing. I've heard that all my life.
That was a saying when I was growing up in high school and
they said, do your own thing. Well, if I can, if I can direct
my own steps, if I can save and redeem myself, then I don't need
God. I've made myself my own God.
And you have too. And that's why the religion of
the world today is leading multitudes to hell. I take it personal. I've got loved ones in hell. That's a sobering thought. It's
not a pleasant thought. I don't like to think about it. And we can't keep it perfectly.
And we can't provide the perfect righteousness that God requires
by our doing. And if we could, then we have
no need of a Redeemer and a Savior and no need of Jesus Christ.
But God shows to some, Steve, undeserving. what they are and who they need. Is that the case with you? Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter
15, he said, if Christ did not die, rise again, then your preaching
is vain. If Christ did not come into this
world and die and was buried and raised from the dead and
ascended on high, then what I'm telling you this morning is vain,
it's worthless. We'd be better to dismiss right
now and all go home. But it's not. And then Paul added,
and if our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain. In other
words, the very things that you're trusting in are useless if Christ
didn't rise and die. die and rise. Yea, and we, God's
true servants, are found false witnesses of God, because we
have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised
not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise
not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, it is no profit to you. And you are yet
in your sin. And those that are fallen asleep
in Christ, those who have died in Christ beforehand, they too
are perished. The only hope that we as believers
have is found in Christ coming into the world, dying, rising
again, and ascending on high. That's the only thing that's
gonna satisfy a holy God with the perfection that He requires. It's the only way you and I can
be accepted, accepted in the beloved. Who's that? The Lord
Jesus Christ. If Christ alone is our surety,
our security, our Savior, then His person, His blood, His righteousness,
and His sacrifice are our only hope of being saved. I believe
that with my whole heart. There's no other explanation
of how God would accept, justly accept, according to the justice
of His holy law, could accept one like me. If man can save himself, then
in this life, our hope is in Christ and any declaration of
what we do that God would find acceptable is a lie. And the only thing that this
has done is just made believers most miserable. my salvation depends on me in
any way, then I will, with everyone else who trusts in Christ alone,
be nothing but dejected and all hope of my salvation taken away. You know, at best, we are blind,
and at worst, we are dead. That's what the scriptures tell
us. And we're at our worst. As we've already seen, there
is a supreme authority to man's one who rules and overrules and
works all things to his liking. Does he not, as God who created
all the world and us, not deserve that? Are we going to try to grab his
hand and hold it back and say, what do you think you're doing?
He's God. That's an almighty God that we're
talking about. Nebuchadnezzar had determined
to take the people of Israel away from the land that God gave
them. It was God's land and God gave
it to them. God took it away from the Canaanites and the Hittites
and the Amorites and all those ites. And he gave it to Israel,
it's theirs now. Nebuchadnezzar's not gonna take
it back. It was a land that flowed with milk and honey. But in our
text, we find Jeremiah consoling himself with the truth. And friends,
this is the unadulterated truth. Jeremiah is convincing himself,
consoling himself with the truth and the fact that Nebuchadnezzar,
that evil and wicked king, was only an instrument in the hands
of God. That's all he was. I hear people taking authority
over the devil all the time. Satan, I rebuke you in the name
of Jesus. Listen. He no rival to Christ. He's already been taken authority
over. He's nothing but God's little
dog on a chain. The tyrant king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar,
thought he was working out his own will, but he was only carrying
out the will of God. And he was, and God was only
chastening this idolatrous and rebellious nation of his own
people. I can remember one time, my father,
I've told you this before, my mother was the disciplinarian
in the family. She'd take off my dad's belt
right off of him and whoop me with it. And I'm not trying to
be funny, it wasn't funny. But my dad, he was always, he
was such a mellow guy and he'd always want to sit down and talk
to you. It didn't work much. I'm like, you know, but I'll
never forget one time I disobeyed him, and he took his belt off.
I went down to a neighborhood house, just down the alley, down
the street, same block, and he told me not to, and I did it
anyway, and he come down there, and he whooped me all the way
up that alley, and I wish you could have seen me. That was
a dance, better than Trump's dance. More movement, I can tell
you that. My point is, is that I knew my
dad loved me, because he chastened me. And
we know God loves us because he chastens us. He chastens us because we're
his children. I look at Jeremiah here and he's
consoling himself. And this should be our soul consolation. You know, I often console myself
with who God is. You look around you in this world
and you think to yourself, what in the world is going on? I've
heard folks say that a couple of times this week. What is going
on? But my consolation, friends,
is knowing who's behind it all. God has promised to work all
things together for His children's good. So if I'm one of His, I
don't have anything to worry about. I'd still worry, but I shouldn't. He's promised to work all things
together. Earthquakes, wildfires, global
warming. and warning. You hear a lot about
it. Wars, rumors of wars. They don't cause me to fret.
Why? Because I know who's sitting on heaven's throne and he's ruling
and he's reigning and he's controlling all things. I'm sure that Jeremiah
thought, I sure don't know what this Nebuchadnezzar's gonna do.
Because he prayed to his God and he said, but I do know this. I know that the way of man is
not in himself. And it's not man that directs
his own steps. Jeremiah knew what every child
of God is taught of God. Every step of Judah's was mapped
out by God. all for the glory of God and
the good of His chosen people. Now, I don't understand that,
but I certainly believe it. I believe it with my whole heart. And I also believe that every
step of Nebuchadnezzar and all our enemies, the enemies of God
and our enemies, are directed the same exact way for the same
exact reason. And for them, it's not for their
good like it is ours. It's good for the people, the
good of God's people, Romans 8, 28. You know, the feet of
God's people are well known to him. How so? Because he's the one
that directs them. He's the one that directs them.
He's the one who orders their steps. The steps of a good man
are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way. Now that
word good in that verse is italicized. That means it was added and it
was added only because only God can make a man or a woman good.
They're not good in their own right, they're good in Christ
and they are those who God delights in in the way that he directs
them. You know, God is pleased with
Himself. And He's pleased with those that are in Him. He delights
in their way because He alone directs their way. In Christ,
who is the way? The way of man is not in Himself.
Jeremiah says in our text, man's way is not in Himself and not
in the way that He Himself walks, but His way is in God who directs
His steps. What a wonderful thing to know.
Only God can teach it, and only God can do it. The affairs of
this world are not under the control of men, but under the
sovereign control of God, and why would anyone in the world
want to change that? That's why I'm glad that God
directs my steps and leads me in His way. And this is speaking
of man's way, which is spoken of in Proverbs 16, verse 25. I encourage you to read that
whole chapter too. There is a way that seemeth right
unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. There
are many a man in hell who was doing his own thing, walking
his own way, and in the end, he thought everything's good.
Oh, me and Jesus, we got a good thing going. In hell, he's in
hell. That's why I'm glad that God
directs my steps. I don't want my way. I don't
want to do it my way. In the end, my way is the way
of death. And the believer can find such hope and assurance
in knowing that the way of man is not in himself. It's not found
in man that walks to direct his own steps. You know, men talk
about free agency. I had a man tell me, I don't
believe in free will, but I believe in free agency. What's the difference? Now listen, man can act freely
only as far as his nature allows him. Now hear me. Our free will
is in bondage to our nature, which is sinful. In Romans chapter
7, Paul said, For we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm
carnal, fleshly, sold under sin. That's my problem. I'm sold under
sin. And then, if I may paraphrase,
Paul said this, What I don't want to do, that's what I do.
You know anybody like that? Paul said, what I hate to do
and shouldn't do, that's what I do. You know anybody like that? He said, in my flesh dwells no
good thing. For to will, my want to, is present
with me, but how to perform what I know is right, I find not. You ever been there? Now I know
this is not right for me to do it. And you wind up doing it
anyway. Why is that? Your nature is in bondage to
your sin. Now I want to tell you a fish
story. You know that men are bad about
telling fish stories. But mine's a little different.
It's about a fish in an aquarium. Not the big fish that got away.
Everybody caught one of them, didn't they? And because of my fish story,
the fish couldn't get away. He's in an aquarium. Now, a fish
in an aquarium has a free will within the bounds of his nature.
You know, you could say that fish has free agency. It can swim to the top of the
aquarium and to the bottom. It can swim to this side and
the other side. It can swim through the little
fish house that you've stuck on the bottom and it can swim
up to the top where the plants are. And that fish is a free
agent with a free will as long as it's in the aquarium. But that fish, cannot jump out
of the tank, walk to its fish garage, jump in its fish car,
and drive to Kroger's and buy groceries. You ever seen a little
guppy do that? Or a goldfish? It's nature won't
allow it. Its fish nature doesn't have
the ability to do such. That fish is in bondage to its
nature as a fish. It depends on someone supreme
to itself to feed it. It depends on one superior to
keep that water at a certain temperature. It relies on someone
with a superior nature to remove carbon dioxide from the water
and to put oxygen into the tank with the little pumps and all
that. That fish is dependent on another to sustain life for
them. Sound familiar? You know, when
I was young, many of my friends, we all got aquariums. It was
bad for a while, and we'd save up money and we'd buy these exotic
fish, and sometimes we'd trade fish. I'll trade Charlie the
angelfish for your Swordfish, you know, whatever. Most of our
fish were inexpensive freshwater fish. Saltwater fish were real
expensive. But some of our freshwater fish
cost a lot for a 10, 12-year-old boy. And it never failed. When
I would sail on my money and buy one of the most expensive
freshwater fish, it would get a disease called, are you ready
for this, ick. That's a real disease. It's a
fish disease called ick. It got ick and it got sick. Then
I'd have to buy and give it some ick medicine when it got sick
and it made me sick because the fish were sick. Ick is a disease
brought about by a parasite in the water that causes white spots
to appear on a fish's body and fill the fins and gills and it
causes fish to grasp for air at the water's surface. And here's
the point I'm endeavoring to make. You and I have got spiritual
ache. Our ache is called sin and we're
sick to death. And if our supreme God doesn't
divinely intervene, we're gonna die. Sin is a human disease that
affects men and women. It causes them to get black spots. Not white, black spots within
and without until they're completely covered. That's me. It causes
men to fall to the bottom and gasp for life. Fish with ick are usually not
in immediate danger of death unless they have a compromised
immune system. An inexpensive medicine, blue
in color, will bring a fish with ick, sick with ick, back to health
quickly. But sinners with the disease
of sin are in immediate danger because we do have a compromised
immune system. We are immune to a holy God. And unless He gives us Christ,
the great physician to treat us, we are most assuredly gonna
die. Unless Christ supplies the expensive
remedy, which is a red color, being Christ's blood, we're gonna
die. But the blood of Christ is the only substance, the only
medicine that's gonna wash away our terminal sickness. And the truth of the matter is,
the only free will, the only free will that you and I have
to exercise is the free will that we exercise in sinning. We sin freely and we sin willfully. That is the free will that we
possess. The way of man, the life of man,
that's what that means, is not in Himself. Even though many
think it is, it's not. Though Nebuchadnezzar afflicted
those of Judah, it was God who permitted it, and He permitted
it for His people's good. You know, when a dog is struck
with a stick, it usually bites the stick. You ever seen that? Somebody teased a dog with something
and they bite that instrument that's being used? If the dog
had more sense, they'd try to bite the man that holds the stick. So the ignorant hold contention
for the instrument that afflicts them, whatever the trouble may
be, and really they're holding contention, discord, and disagreement
against God. who is the real instrument of
their affliction. He's the one that holds the stick. No doubt that Jeremiah's words
of encouragement to Judah and us are true. It's not in man
to direct his step. Although a man is an active individual.
Oh, we're active, aren't we? We're busy folks. We walk here
and there, and we're busy doing this and that in our religion. He cannot direct His own steps.
He's led. In many cases, tossed to and
fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, every message. You've got to do this. Oh, yeah,
I believe that. And you've got to do that. Oh,
yeah, I believe that too. And you don't have to do anything.
And I believe that. Just tossed. You don't know which
way to go. That's man. By nature? By the slight of men and cunning
craftiness, lying in wait to deceive. That's exactly what
religion is. False religion is a true enemy.
All of us have loved ones, as I said, in hell because of this
enemy. They've deceived those that we
love. And they would deceive even the elect if possible. Our
Lord said for false Christ and false prophets shall rise and
show signs and wonders to seduce if it were possible, even the
elect. It's not possible. It's not possible. Why? Because God's on the throne. He has his people in his hand.
He ain't got the whole world in his hand, but, oh, his people
got him close to his heart. A man ought not direct his way
according to his own will, as we've seen, because his will
is naturally evil, and a man who is his own guide is guided
by a fool. Over the years, many have voiced
to me that they do not believe the doctrine of total depravity. Total depravity is much more
than a doctrine, friends. Total depravity is a reality. The fact that men and women don't
believe in their total depravity is the proof that it exists in
them. Man's too wicked, man's too dead, man's too depraved
to believe what his own heart proves that he is. False religion
makes what is bitter to a child of God to be sweet, and it makes
what is light to the believer to be darkness, and what darkness
is made to a believer to be light. I knew I'd mess that up. What they think is light, we
know it's darkness, and what we know is darkness, they think
is light. That's a better way of saying
it. Like a drunkard, man is stumbling with every step. Adam and his innocence could
not direct his own way, and he lost paradise for himself and
us. Do you believe that you can find
your way back to paradise on your own? No, sir. And if you try, you'll
just keep wandering further and further. further from peace,
further from righteousness, further from holiness, further from forgiveness. Even when God removes the stony
heart of unbelief within us and puts a right spirit within us,
we should know not to trust our own judgment. A man that's crippled can't walk
and not one step except strength be given to him from above will
amount to anything. And what a revelation it is to
be brought and taught that you are totally dependent on the
one who can do anything and everything. God not only can, but he's willing.
He delights to show mercy. Our choices are good when they
become God's choices, not at all otherwise. His words are
instructive. It is not man that walketh the
directed step. God must direct man's steps.
Do you remember what James said? He said, go to now, you either
say today or tomorrow, we're gonna go into a city and continue
there a year, and we're gonna buy and sell, we're gonna make
a lot of money. We're gonna get great gain. Don't
say that, whereas you know not what tomorrow shall bring, and
we don't. If you make plans for yourself,
write them down with a pencil and keep an eraser close by,
because you can rub them out quickly. To write our plans with
permanent ink is a grave, grave mistake. Be happy to alter your
plans if God's providence quickly changes them. Been planning on
a vacation, been planning on this for five years, and something
happens, and you're disappointed. Don't be. The Lord may have saved
you from great trouble. To be optimistic about your plans
is wisdom. To be optimistic concerning God's
purpose is a sin. And remember what I said in the
beginning, what did James say? He said, for that you ought to
say, if the Lord will. We shall live and do this and
do that. So you still going on vacation? If the Lord wills.
And I hope he wills. If we have anything, friends,
that we prize highly, I suggest you hold it loosely. Our parents,
my parents, left this world and they didn't take a thing with
them. Not one thing. And it'll be the same for us.
That word mortal, M-O-R-T-A-L, is one that we should get very
familiar with. Mortal means perishable and subject
to death. We are certainly that. And friends,
this is a call to humble dependence on God. We're not masters of
our own destiny. Just as a man with no feet can't
walk, we cannot direct our paths. Will you today acknowledge your
total dependence on God? I'm not asking you to come up
front and say a prayer with me and let's in the next week or
two stick you back here in this baptistry. I'm not saying that
at all. Just bow to the fact that God is God. The rest will fall right into
place. And you'll want to confess Him. And you'll want to be baptized.
And you'll want to serve Him all the days of your life. Approach
Him in humility. Submit yourselves to Him and
His greater purpose. How do we do so? We seek His
guidance through prayer. We seek His will through the
study of Scripture, through the preaching of the gospel. We forfeit
our will and submit to His, and we trust in Him alone. And we
say with Job, though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him,
and He shall be my salvation. If the Lord slayed me, He's just
speeding up the process of me going to be with Him. It's a
departure, it's a promotion. Now let me finish with St. Jeremiah's
declaration in this single verse, and his consolation should remind
us, the true security lies not in our own abilities, but God's. We must rely completely on God's
leading. The Lord Jesus on many occasions
said, follow me. If you do, I'll make you fish
as a man. My sheep hear my voice, and what
do they do? They follow me. Oh Lord, I know
that the way of man is not in himself. Has the Lord shown you
that? It's not in man that walketh to direct his steps. It's the
Lord that directs his steps. How does he direct our steps?
You ever thought about it? By causing us to follow him. I walk in His steps by following
Him. The Lord willing, may God be
pleased to cause us to follow Him.