I invite you now to turn back
with me to Psalm 119. I want to zero in on verse 9. Now most believe that this psalm
was written by David in his last years, the last years of his
life. and with an eye on his son Solomon,
whom God seemed to favor and treat with mercy and grace. And it also appears to be a recollection
or an observation of the word of God and how it had affected
his life over the years and how much it had meant to him. through
all that he'd been through. There are 11 direct statements
which I read to you concerning the word of God, which use the
words according to thy word. And many more using the term
statutes, laws, precepts, testimonies, and judgments, but all meaning
the word of God. All throughout this song. But
what caught my eye and what I believe to be God's message to us this
morning is a question he asked in verse nine. Wherewithal shall
a young man, or a young woman, cleanse his way. Now you know that in the Old
Testament that what a man believed toward
God was referred to as the way. the way. When John the Baptist,
when the prophets foretold of the coming of John the Baptist,
they said he would come and make the way straight. He's going
to take away the obstacles. He's going to take away the camouflage.
He's going to make the way straight and plain. He's going to make it known.
We like to or this world does, like to camouflage and cover
up certain offensive things in the gospel, we'll just ignore
those. No, John came to make them known,
to make them plain. And here it says, wherewithal
shall a young man, here's a young man, he's not Only been in school
a few years, he don't know a whole lot about what's going on in
the church, but now he's old enough, he begins to hear some
things, he begins to think for himself about things. He tries
to glean a little bit from the message and understand what you're
talking about. Well, how's this man? He's getting
influenced in the schools, he's getting influenced through his
friends. He's getting influenced on TV. He's getting influenced
in every paper and magazine in the world. How in the world is
this young man going to cleanse his way? How is he going to know
what's right and what's wrong? How's he going to have this way
set clear to him? Train a child up, the scripture
said, in the way that he should go. And that's what this is dealing
with, the way. How are you going to know this
morning, the way? How are you going to cleanse
that way? So that you know it's not full of holes and it's not
something false. It's not going to leave you holding
a bag at the end. Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? And we've got lots of young men
and women whose parents belong to this church, who've been bringing
you here since you were just little, in hope that God will
be pleased to give you hearing ears and seeing eyes. And I want
to say this by way of introduction to every unregenerate man, woman,
and child in this place this morning, that the scripture says
There's none that understandeth, none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way. Simply because you come to a
place that teaches the way, don't you assume that you know it. Just because your parents believe
and are on that way, that narrow way, don't you assume that you're
on it. They're all gone out of the way.
destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace they've
not known. Now how you gonna cleanse that way? How you gonna
know if this is the way? Huh? All right, let me read this verse
again in the light of what I just said. Wherewithal shall a young
man cleanse his way? How can a poor ignorant sinner,
a fallen son of Adam, know the truth? How can he who has such
a natural ignorance be enlightened and find confidence that what
he believes is the truth? How can he sit in this place
and listen to this preacher and believe in his heart that what
I'm saying to you about your sin and about God's salvation
is the truth? How can you know that? And how can he know the lying
wonders and deception of Satan's ministers? How can you know these
things? How can a young man cleanse his
way? Are you listening? Are you even interested? Well, here's the answer. By taking
heed thereto, now watch this, according to thy word. You know what he's saying there?
He's saying let God be true in every man a liar. That's what
he's saying. He says in verse 11, thy word
have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee. And I don't care who the man
is that stands before you, be it here or somewhere else, if
he doesn't speak according to the word of God. Now I'm quoting
from the word of God, I'm quoting from the book of Isaiah. It's
because there's no light in him. If he stands and tells you something
and he can't show it to you in the word of God, and I ain't
talking about over here with a piece of a verse, I'm talking
about showing you verse after verse after verse. If he can't
nail that down, it's because there's no light in him. Salvation in all of its facets
has for a foundation the Word of God. I don't even know that
Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God, except what the Word
of God said about Him. This is who He is, this is why
He came, this is what He did, and all foretold hundreds of
years before He ever appeared. I know that this Jesus that I
preach is the Son of God because His Word declares it. And I want more than anything
that our young boys and girls get acquainted with the Word
of God. And what I want to do this morning is show you that
what I preach is the Word of God. There's a word that the prophets
and the apostles used under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit
that we need to get acquainted with. And that word is according. According. David talked about
praying for strength, but strength according to his word. And a quickening according to
his word. And all of these things according
to his word. And there's preachers by the
thousands today that preach the death of Christ. They preach
that Jesus of Nazareth was judged by men and taken out and nailed
to a cross and there he hung until he died. And they preach
the resurrection of Christ. There's untold multitudes this
morning who will today preach the resurrection of Christ from
the grave. But I want you to turn with me
to 1 Corinthians 15. Here's what the multitudes will
not preach. Here is what they will ignore
altogether. Now watch this here in 1 Corinthians
15, beginning with verse one. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also you have
received and wherein you stand, by which also you're saved if
you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain. Now watch this, verse three. For I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins, now watch this, according to the Scriptures. Now that's
what they don't preach. They preach that he died. but
they don't preach that he died according to the scriptures.
And that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures. The coming of the Lord as our
representative man and his life and his death and his resurrection
is all according to the scriptures. And what a man professes to know,
apart from the word of God, I'm not even interested in. I'm interested
in what God has to say. I'm telling you, you can build
your house on what God says. You can stand, that's what Paul
said, this is where you stand. And this is how you're saved,
if you keep in memory what I preached to you. Because what I preached
to you was according to the scriptures. coming of our Lord as a representative
man in his life and death and resurrection. They're all according
to the scriptures. His covenant appointments were
never given to men to interpret as they pleased. Well, I just
think that, well, I'm not even going to tell you what I think
about what you thought. What's God say about it? That's
what I want to know. They were all described in detail
in the scriptures. Let me give you some examples.
The universalists would have you believe that Christ died
for everybody. Christ died for everybody. You
can tell anybody on the street, God loves you and Christ died
for you. Is that true? Now I'm gonna tell you something,
that's what the multitude believes. I'm talking about the overwhelming
majority, probably 98% of religion out here believes that God loves
everybody and Christ died for everybody. Is that true? How do I know it's not true?
Because it's not according to the scriptures. In Romans 3.25, Paul states clearly
that the free justification of grace and the redemption accomplished
by Christ was set forth in the Old Testament scriptures. And
I have to believe here that he's talking about the old types,
the sacrifices, the animal sacrifices, and the priesthood. This is what
he's talking about. The life, death, the burial,
and the resurrection of Christ, they was all taught back there
under those types. All set forth of God. He even makes mention of it being
for the sins that are past, that is sins of an earlier time. And also includes this present
time also. And what's he saying about these
things? Well, these sacrifices that were offered, who were they
offered for? The world? No. When God ordained that tabernacle
and ordained that priest, they said, right up here on his shoulders,
you write the 12 tribes of Israel. And then you write them right
over his heart. And when he goes into that holy of holies and
he makes that atonement, it's gonna be for these. And anybody who knows anything
at all, if you've ever even read your Bible, you ought to know
that these things represented spiritual Israel. He's not a
Jew which is one outward, he's a Jew which is one inwardly.
And that's what was being represented back there, particular redemption.
It was being set forth in the Old Testament scriptures. And
they saw those things, and they saw that by the sacrifice of
Christ, which is being typified in that lamb, they looked at
those things and worshiped God by faith, even in the Old Testament
days. And there's nowhere in the typical
sacrifices or in the interpretation of them in the New Testament
that the death of Christ is even hinted at as being a universal
sacrifice. And then in John chapter 10,
he tells the Pharisees, he said, I'm the good shepherd. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And they said, well,
if you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said, I told you.
You believe not. Why? You're not of my sheep. Now if you're not his sheep,
then the good shepherd didn't give his life for you. And I can say the same thing
about all these covenant appointments of Christ. Ephesians 1, 3, and
4 tell us that all spiritual blessings were given to us by
the Father according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world. That's what the scriptures say. Jesus of Nazareth is a Savior
by God's appointment to accomplish His eternal purpose of grace
for those He chose in eternal election in His Son. And He mediates
the redemptive will of God to this end according to His Word. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Isn't that what that says? I'm
not talking about somebody out here in the world. I'm talking
about his elect. And if you go by what seems right
to men or by what some organized religion printed in a book, you
go ahead. But you'd be wise to let God
be true in every man a liar. And then what about Christ our
mediator? What does the scripture say about
him? With John 17 too, as thou hast given me power over all
flesh. Are you listening? This is plain
language. You young men, young women ought
to be able to understand it. As thou hast given me power over
all flesh, that I should give eternal life. To who? To as many
as thou hast given me. So when people come to you and
they start talking about, well, God loves everybody. Oh, my soul,
he didn't love Esau. How you know that? Because he
said it. He doesn't love the workers of
iniquity. He says, God hateth all the workers
of iniquity. And if God loved everybody, Love,
he tells us in Romans chapter eight, it don't fail. It can't
fail. Who gonna separate us from the
love of God? Huh? He names everything known
to man there. Nothing shall be able to separate
you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So if he loved everybody, there'd be no reason for hell. And if
he died for everybody, nobody has any sins. Is that right? So this 98% of men out here dancing
around this morning talking about God's love for everybody and
Christ's death for everybody is full of baloney. And they're
not speaking according to the word of God. Actually, they're
speaking contrary to the word of God which makes them antichrist. Fourthly, men say that people
choose their own destiny. They choose who shall and who
shall not be saved. But the scriptures tell us that
God who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world,
having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, now listen, according to the good pleasure
of his will. Huh? If anybody's saved this
morning, it's according to the will of God. It's according to the will of
God. And I'm telling you, I don't
have time to go through everything, but in all things, men teach
one thing and the Bible states another. And you've been around
long enough to know that. But you say they must have some
scriptural basis or nobody'd listen to them. Oh, they quote
the scriptures, but usually out of context or only at a portion
at a time. Well, brother, I believe in eternal
love. God's not willing for any man
to perish. That's not what that verse says.
That verse says God is long-suffering to usward. not willing that any
should perish, but that all should come unto repentance. If God
wasn't willing for a man to perish, he wouldn't perish. He said even
that old raven over there, that old bird over there on the post,
he can't even die without the will of God. They quote things, they quote
them out of context or just a portion here and there. And it's always
contrary to the gospel. And men who are unlearned, Peter
says, they look at these great mysteries and they rest, W-R-E-S-T,
they rest the scriptures to their own destruction. Paul said, some men, having turned
aside to hear vain jangling, they'd rather hear that than
the word of God. To hear men desiring to be teachers of the
law, understanding neither what they say nor whereof they affirm.
Boy, I'm telling you, I've sat in camp meetings up in Columbus,
Ohio, that's where our The Nazarenes all met in the state of Ohio.
That was their big campground. And we'd go up there, and they'd
preach all night long. I've seen them up there beating
on that pulpit with that hand and quoting the law and telling
you what the law says and telling you all this. Paul said they
don't understand what they're saying and whereof they affirm. They don't understand anything.
It's just vain jangling. That's all it is. My friend,
the word of God teaches that men and women are predestinated
under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according
to the good pleasure of his will. And then fifthly, men teach that
faith is the product of men and that any man, any woman, any
boy or girl can believe anytime they want to. I don't guess you'll ever be
persuaded that that's wrong until the day God convicts you of sin
and you try to believe what you can't. And you find out this thing's
out of your hands. It's not in your hands, it's
in His. And the funny thing about free will is it's always a will
not. Always. I can believe anytime
I want to. Why don't you? Huh? Why don't you? I had a man tell me that one
time. I believe anytime I want to. And I said, well, you're
not believing me, and I'm reading it right out of the book. What's
keeping you from it? Huh? Your so-called free will? Men teach that faith is a product
of men. They can believe any time they
want to. But the scriptures tell us quite the contrary. It says,
by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. And it's
not of works. And if it were, you'd brag on
it forever. You'd brag on it forever. Well, I can tell you one thing.
No, you can't either. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Scripture said, you believe not,
because you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I've
had preachers to tell me that the moment you believe God writes
your name in the Lamb's Book of Life, I've heard them ask that question.
Would you have your name written tonight in the Lamb's Book of
Life? Step out into that aisle. Huh? Again, I say this is contrary
to the scriptures. The scriptures say of those who
believed at Antioch, as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. Nobody else did. The Jews didn't. And Paul even warned them. He
said, Isaiah talked about this now and you better take this
warning of God. They're going to be a time when
men are going to hear the truth. They're going to hear it declared
as plainly. They're going to hear it read
from the word of God. They're going to hear it declared
to them. But they're not going to believe, even though a man
tell them. They're not going to believe.
And they didn't. How many times does the scripture
say, it is not of him that willeth? And yet, men by the thousands
standing up this morning saying that it is. Sixthly, men say that they're
kept by their own power and determination. You believe that? Boy, I hope
that ain't true. Scripture said we're kept by
the power of God through faith. That faith that not of yourself
but the gift of God, we're kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed at the last time. And in Jude
verse one it says we are preserved in Jesus Christ. Preserved. And in verse 24 it says, now
unto him that's able to keep you from falling. Unto him. You see what I'm saying? The
scripture's not teaching these things, but men by the thousands
this morning are declaring this very thing. And it's totally
contrary. And then lastly, there's nothing
of which man is more superstitious and ignorant as he is the death
of man. The Catholics teach a place called
purgatory. A place where men go, it's a
temporary holding cell that God has over here to the side of
this mysterious country and he takes you and he puts you over
there, but you can buy him out if you got enough money. You
can buy him out, you can redeem him out. My father-in-law was Catholic
and his relatives gave money to my wife to give to her mother
so they could buy him out of purgatory. And I said, don't
you even tell her what that money's for. Just give it to her and
let her buy groceries with you. They believe that. I'm not talking
about something just that men say. They believe this. And most organized religions
teach or at least practice it at all the funerals that men
who live ungodly lives still go to a better place. Well, he's
a lot better off than he was. Not if he didn't believe he's
not. He was in Shangri-La compared
to where he's at right now. God still let the rain fall on
the just and the unjust here, but not there. They'll cry for
a drop of water. That's how the Lord pictured
that. Get just one drop of water on my tongue. I've heard them say it and I
don't have any funerals. Men who live ungodly lives still
go on to a better place where their sufferings and heartaches
shall all be taken away. And here's something else I hear
a lot. A person goes and sits under a false prophet. He listens
to Antichrist preaching his whole life and he rejoices in this preaching
of free will and hopes in some decision that they made years
ago or some experience they had years ago. They believe in the
universal sacrifice of Christ and all of these things. And
the truth, when they hear it, they rejected it, they despised
it. And then when they die, a host
of family members and friends show up and start talking about
he or she is in a better place based on what they believed.
Now is that according to the Word of God? No. My friend, our Lord said to the
most law-abiding, ceremony-keeping, Bible-reading people that ever
walked the planet, he said, because they would not receive the truth
of the gospel, it'll be more tolerable for the land of Sodom
and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for them. And the scriptures say of that
day, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which
is filthy, let him be filthy still. He's not going to all
of these things that people want to look at and think about being
relieved of. It's just not according to the
Word of God. We used to sing a song in religion. where I was raised when we all
get to heaven. Can I tell you something? We
all ain't going to heaven. A lot of people going to heaven.
Period. There's a verse written in the
20th chapter of the book of Revelation. John said in the 12th verse of
that chapter, he said, I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God. And the books were opened, and
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of these things which were written in
the books according to their works. The first book is the book of
all man's deeds and works. All his sinful disobedience to
the law, it's all recorded there. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. He has not a single good deed
to his name. Our Lord said there's none good
but God. And then in Romans 3, he said,
there's none good, no, not one. And God will read from the second
book where their names cannot be found in that book of life. The second book is the Lamb's
book of life, and in this book are all the names of them blessed
of God in Christ who were chosen in him and predestinated in him
according to the good pleasure of his will. They were recipients
of his grace in all things. In all things. Their sins were... He made arrangements for their
sins to be borne by his own son. And he honored his justice in
his own son. And he showed mercy and grace
in his son. and then having read their names
from the book of life he was then look at their days and he'll
go back to the book of days of god's elect and here it is here
it is they live a lot of perfect right you say how can that be because
christ is the end of the law for righteousness everyone to
believe A perfect obedience, ever jot
until of the law was kept out of a pure love for God and His
glory. And they look in that book of
deeds and they find it a perfect, a perfection. Can't anything
be found. But you say, how can that be?
It can because Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believe it. That's why. We have His righteousness. He was made to be sin for us
who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. And every man, woman, boy, or
girl whose name was written in eternal election in the Lamb's
Book of Life and called in time to faith and repentance, they
have a perfect righteousness. Listen to this and I'll close.
Colossians chapter one, verse 21. I'm trying to show you here
the way according to the scriptures. Colossians chapter one, verse
21. And you, talking about these
heathen Gentile idolaters, and you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, Yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy, unblameable,
now watch this, and unreprovable. That means you can't get no better
than you are. Unreprovable in God's sight. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel which you have heard. Wherewithal shall a young
man cleanse his way, make his way clear of foreign obstacles,
clean of impurities, by taking heed thereto according to thy
word. May the Lord be pleased today
to strike a chord in our heart and cause us to take heed to
his word. And I'm telling you, when you
see it there and the Holy Spirit reveals it to you, and you see
what it's saying, and you see its eternality, and you see its
finalness, and you see its perfection, you don't wanna go nowhere else.
And if a man stands and preaches it, you can rejoice in it. And
if he stands and says the contrary, you'll bow your head. You'll
bow your head. Oh, may God give us an understanding
of these things. Thank you.