Would you turn back to Acts chapter
9? This evening, we're going to
observe the Lord's table together. I'm going to be preaching from
the 40th Psalm. Look once again at verse 2, right
in the middle of the verse. if he found any of this way. And my marginal reading says
of the way. I've entitled this message, The
Way. Now, the way is how to get from
point A to point B. It's how to be brought from point
A to point B. It's the distance between point
A and point B. The way, if he found any of this
way. When he's giving his account
of what took place in Acts chapter 22, verse four, he says, I persecuted
this way. unto the death, binding and delivering
into prisons, both men and women. Now, what way is this way? You know the answer to that.
The Lord said in John chapter 14, verse six, I am the way. He didn't say, I'll show you
the way. He didn't say, I'll guide you along the way. He said,
I am the way. The truth, the life, no man cometh
to the Father, but by me. Now he is the way to God. He is the only way. He is the
way that excludes all other ways. And he is always the way. There is no time when he is not
the way. Question. Is there a time when you are
allowed to approach God some other way. Perhaps you've been enabled to
truly pray from your heart. What a blessing that is. You're
given some liberty in prayer and you're able to read the scriptures
and they come alive to you. And perhaps you've not been dogged
by your sin and sins as much as usual. Do you dare approach
God on that ground? Don't do it. Stop. You've had a bad day. You have willfully committed
sin. You conceived it and fondled
it in your mind and a premeditated way committed it. You know what
I'm talking about. And now you feel like you cannot
come into God's presence. Stop. Even thinking that means you
think if you hadn't have done that, you could. That's just
self-righteousness rearing up its ugly head even in the midst
of your remorse over your sin. At all times, the newest believer,
the weakest believer, The strongest believer, the most mature believer. There's only one way to the Father,
Christ. I am the way. The only way to come to the Father
is by Him. Now, this is very important for
us to understand is I know we can't intellectually grasp, but
we got to have some understanding of it. The only way I get to
the father is by being in him. And when he comes to the father,
I do too. That is the way to the father
being in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let me make some comments
about this thing of Christ being the way. He is eternally the
way. He is the way before the creation
of the world. Listen to this scripture from
Proverbs chapter eight, verses 22 and 23. The Lord, this is
the Lord Jesus speaking. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of his way. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. Now, before time began,
He is the way to the Father. Before time began. He is the
lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And you know, the
longer I preach, the more significant that becomes. He's the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. The world was created for this
event, his death, his glorious death, wherein he glorified his
father and made every attribute of God made known. Even then,
before time began, He was the way to the Father. And when time shall be no more,
He's still the only way to the Father. And when I am made perfectly
conformed to His image, saved to sin no more, made just like
Christ, even then, He is the only way to the Father. First Peter 2.2, Peter calls
this the way of truth. Him being the only way to the
Father, always the way that excludes all other ways, this is the way
of truth. Anything contrary to him being
the only way all the time that excludes all other ways is a
lie. Anything contrary to I am the
way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father but
by me, is a falsehood forged by the devil himself, a counterfeit,
a garment that is not the wedding garment, and those who are wearing
it will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. any way contrary to him being
the only way is a lie. He is the way of truth. Listen to this from Hebrews chapter
nine, eight, he is called the way into the holiest. Now in the tabernacle, you will
remember there were two rooms. the holy place and the holy of
holies. And the holy of holies was separated
by a veil. And no one except the great high
priest was allowed into the holy of holies. And he only came one
time a year. And he came on the day of atonement
with the blood of the atonement. One time a year. If me or you
would have tried to go in there, what would have happened to us?
We would have been put to death just like that. Only the high
priest could come into the Holy of Holies, separated by that
veil. You know what happened the moment
Christ died? As soon as he died, you know what took place? That
veil was ripped in half from the top to the bottom, showing
us that this was God's work and that veil of separation was taken
away. Hebrews 10, 19 says, having therefore
brethren boldness. Don't miss that word. Having
therefore brethren boldness. to enter into the holiest by
the blood of Jesus. You see, here's why. Listen to this statement. If
you don't get anything else, I hope you get this. His blood
made my sin not to be. The sin I'm aware of right now
is not. His blood put that sin away and
every believer stands welcomed into the very presence of God
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is what
the Bible calls justification. Justification. You know what
justification is? Means I never did anything wrong.
Means I have always done that which is right. It means I have
no sin. It means that I stand perfectly
righteous before God right now. Being justified. Having been justified freely. by His grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. I love to think of that publican
in the temple, beating on his breast, crying, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. What did Christ say? I'll tell
you. Oh, there's something powerful
about that, isn't there? I'll tell you. That man went down
to his house justified. He never sinned. He's perfect. He's without fault. He's without
guilt. He is the way into the holiest. Bold shall I stand in that great
day, for who ought to my charge shall lay. fully absolved from
these I am from sin's tremendous curse and shame. He is called in Hebrews chapter
10 verse 20, listen to this. He's called the new and living
way. The new and living way. Now the word
new, perhaps you've heard this before, the word new means freshly
slaughtered. I wish I could speak of this
the way it ought to be spoken of, but the blood of Christ is
always new and poignant and powerful to the Father. It's never old. It's always new and fresh and
powerful. Now, if somebody commits the
same sin over and over and over, you'd think that's getting old. If somebody commits the same
sin against you over and over and over and over and over again,
you can think, that's getting old. And I understand that. But the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ makes it to, well, that's never the case with the Father. It's always powerful and poignant
and satisfying and fresh. And the blood of Christ makes
God to be satisfied with everybody He died for. Satisfied. Not looking for anything else.
Because this is the new! The freshly slaughtered. and the living way. He who said, I am the way, also
said, I am the truth and I am the life. He was dead, but now
he lives. And the living one, he who is
life. I've heard people say, Jesus
Christ is alive and doing well. That's blasphemous. He isn't
alive, he's life. And He presents His precious
blood to the Father. He is the new. He is the living
way. I also love what Peter calls
Him in 2 Peter 2, verse 15. He is the right way. He is the right way. Any other way? is a wrong way. Now, what happens if you're going
down the wrong way in a one-way street? Well, you're going to
have a head-on collision, aren't you? You're going to crash. What if you go in the wrong direction
to get to a destination? You're not going to get to that
destination, are you? He only is the right way. All other ways
are wrong ways. I love what the wise man said
in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12. There is a way that seemeth
right. Makes sense to us. There is a
way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways
of death. In 2 Peter 2, verse 21, he is
called the way of righteousness. The way of righteousness. Now, what is righteousness? Well,
righteousness means that you stand before God without sin. You stand before his holy law
as not guilty, perfect before him. He is the way of righteousness. Isaiah chapter 64 verse six says,
our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. Do you believe that? Do
you believe that about yourself? that your righteousnesses before
God amount to nothing more than filthy rags. My preaching, my
praying, my motives, my efforts, what do they amount to? Nothing
more before God than filthy rags. Somebody says after I died, boy,
he was a good man. Don't you believe it. Don't you
believe it. There is none righteous, no,
not one. That's God's estimation of every
man. But there is a way of righteousness. It's not through your works of
personal obedience. It doesn't have anything to do
with something you do. Now let me repeat that. I want
you to hear that. This way of righteousness before God has
nothing to do with anything that you do. This righteousness is
the gift of God. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Now, the righteousness of God.
You know, David said in Psalm 71, 16, I'll make measure of
thy righteousness, even of thine only. Why did he say that? Because there is only one righteousness.
the righteousness of God. There are no other righteousnesses. There's no human righteousness
that a fallen man has produced. Now, this righteousness of God
is given to the believer by way of imputation and by way of impartation. Now, what is that distinction? What are you talking about? What
do you mean? The very righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to
me so that it becomes my personal righteousness. God was the one
who did this. He's the only one who can do
it. And he takes the righteousness of his dear son and it becomes
mine so that I am the very righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5, 21 says,
for he hath made him to be sin, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him." Now, every believer
has this righteousness. It's imputed to him, but not
only is it imputed, it is imparted to him in the new birth, in regeneration. When God saves someone, he gives
them a holy nature, a new nature that was not there before that
comes as the result of being born of God. Now, somebody says,
what's the difference between an imputed righteousness and
an imparted righteousness? Well, there's only one righteousness.
Amen? He is. There's only one righteousness. Now, the way I can best understand
this is by thinking of Adam. Adam sinned and his sin was imputed
to all men. When he sinned, I sinned. When
he sinned, I sinned. When he became guilty, I became
guilty. But not only was his sin charged
to me, it became my sin. It is my sin. I sinned when he
sinned. Not only is his sin charged to me, But his sinful nature
is imparted and passed on to me. And that's why I'm born into
this world a sinner. I didn't become a sinner when
I committed a sin. I was born a sinner because Adam's
sinful nature was imparted to me. Christ's righteousness is
imputed to me, it's mine, and His holy nature, His righteous
nature is imparted to me at the new birth. Now let me show you
what this looks like. Turn to 2 Peter chapter 2. I'm so thankful for this passage
of Scripture. What do you think about when you think about Lot? You remember he's first mentioned
in Genesis 13. Abraham, his uncle, gave him
the choice. You take the well-watered plains
or give them to me, go wherever, whichever way you want." Lot
looked at the well-watered plains. He gave Abraham the leftover. He didn't show any difference
to Abraham. He thought he was looking out
for himself. You know anybody else that way?
I do. And then he ended up moving to
Sodom. He is, he first pitches his tent
towards Sodom, something he shouldn't have done. And then he moved
into Sodom and he was, had some kind of political position there
as sitting at the gate has something to do with him being very involved
in the political scene of Sodom. And you remember when God said,
I'm going to destroy Sodom, get out. What does the scripture
say that Lot did? He lingered. He lingered. God said, I'm going to destroy
this place. And he lingered. He should have ran out. But what
happened? The angel of the Lord grabbed his hand and yanked him
out. The Lord being merciful to him. Now, if you read what the rabbis
said about Lot before this passage of scripture, I'm going to get
ready to read. Nobody has ever had anything
good to say about Lot. And you can see that, can't you?
You can see why it would be that way. But look here in second
Peter chapter two, verse six, and turning the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow,
making them an example unto those that afterwards should live ungodly, and delivered, and this is by
the Holy Spirit's testimony, just lot. Justified lot. Just lot. vexed with the filthy conversation
of the wicked for that, here's God the Holy Spirit's testimony
of him, for that righteous man. Dwelling among them and seeing
and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver
the godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the
day of judgment to be punished. Now, look at God's testimony
of this man. This is what God says. Just lot. That righteous man. You see,
he had the righteousness of Christ, didn't he? And what about his
righteous soul? That's the righteousness of Christ
imparted to him in the new birth. His righteous soul. He is the way. of righteousness. Isaiah called him in Isaiah chapter
35 verse 8, the way of holiness, the way of holiness. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1, 1 Corinthians chapter Here's how he is the way of holiness. Verse 30. But of him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus? Now all of God's salvation is
in Christ Jesus. Well, how do I get in Christ
Jesus? God's got to put you there. Him. Are you in Christ Jesus? Who of God is made unto us. Christ Jesus of God is made unto
us wisdom and righteousness and what's the next word? That's
holiness. Holiness. Sanctification is holiness. He's made into us wisdom and
righteousness and holiness and redemption. Now, anything other
than him being my holiness is unholy and unclean and an abomination
to God. If you have any other holiness
than Him, it's not holiness. Whatever you think it is, it's
not holiness. Every believer has a holy nature
that does not sin because he's born of God. Now,
can a man beget a horse? Can a man beget a dog? No, man
begets a man. Can God the Holy Spirit beget
that which is unholy, which is not like himself? No, no. He only begets that which is.
He that is born of God doth not commit sin. He cannot sin for
his seed. The seed of God remains in him. He is the way of holiness. Now
listen to this scripture. This comes from Romans 3 17.
He's the way of peace. He's the way of peace. Now, what is peace? Well, first
of all, peace is a feeling. It's a feeling. It's a great
feeling, isn't it? I love to feel at peace. I hate
to feel conflicted. I hate to feel guilty. I hate to feel all these different
feelings that we feel. I like to feel peace, don't you?
the peace of God that passes understanding. Now, He is the
way of peace. What does that mean? Here's exactly what it means.
The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, Romans 14, 17. The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now, what that means is, because
I have perfect righteousness, God is at peace with me. He's not mad at me. He's not
thinking bad things about me. He has complete satisfaction
with me. And what He is satisfied with,
or who He is satisfied with, is His Son, and me in His Son. He is my peace. And the same
thing that God gets peace from, I get peace from. God is at peace
with me in Christ. I get satisfaction over what
God is at peace with, or who God is at peace with, Christ.
He is the way of peace. Now, if you want to have peace,
The only way you're gonna have peace is if you look to Christ
only, if you're in Christ. He is the way of peace, complete
peace. Now, he is also called, in Matthew
chapter seven, verses 13 and 14, the narrow way. The narrow
way. The Lord said, enter ye in at
the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way
that leads to destruction. And many there be that go in
there at, but straight is the gate and narrow is the way that
leads to life. And few there be that find it. He is so narrow. that you cannot
get through this gate if you have anything in addition to
him. Your experiences, your dealing
with sin, your whatever it is that has anything to do with
you. If you try to bring that, you can't get in. You can only
get through this gate if all you have is Christ. If you have anything else, you
won't get in. He's too narrow. The same thing
with the way you walk along. You're going to fall off if you
have anything other than Him. He is the straight gate. He is
the narrow way. And if you have anything in addition
to him, you won't get in. What do you have? Acts chapter 24, verse 14. This I confess unto thee, that
after the way which they call heresy, so worship I. Not, that's what I believe. So worship I, the God of my fathers,
believing all things which are written. the law and in the prophets,
the way which they call heresy. Now, if I talk to the average
religious person in Lexington, Kentucky or anywhere else as
far as that goes and told them, God is absolutely sovereign.
He's in control of everything and everybody. Even the thoughts
that are going through your mind right now, he's in control of. That's heretical. I don't believe
that. You and I are so dead in sin
that God can pass us by and let us go to hell. And just and holy
and right is his name. There's nothing we can do to
save ourselves. Why? You're not giving me any control.
Right? God, before time began, elected
a people to salvation and they shall be saved. If he didn't
let the people, nobody would be saved. Why? That's heretical. Christ died
for the elect. I like saying it that way. I
get tired of preachers trying to skirt around this. Christ
died for those who believe. Why don't you say he died for
the elect? So everybody understands what you're saying. He died for
his sheep and accomplished their salvation. And God's grace is
irresistible and invincible. You can't resist it. If God has
grace for you, he can save you. And there's nothing you can do
to prevent it. And you won't want to either. You're going
to find him irresistible. All these people will be preserved. Why? That's heresy. After the
way which they call heresy. So worship I, the God of my Father,
believing all things which are written. Now I want to close
by looking at one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Turn to
Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10. I don't know why I think this,
but I think one of the first people I would like to meet in
heaven, of course, I'm going to meet some of these people.
Now I want to meet Abraham and Moses and Paul, but you know, one of
the first people I think I would like to meet is Blond Bartimaeus.
I can't wait to meet him. He's, he's one of my heroes from
the scripture. I love this man. He's a very
special man by the grace of God. Verse 46, And they came to Jericho. This
is when our Lord was going to the cross at this time, he knew.
And as he went out of Jericho with the disciples and a great
number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the
highway side, begging. And when he heard that it was
Jesus of Nazareth. He began to cry out and say,
Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. I don't have any
doubt that this blind man, I don't know how old he was, but I'm
sure people read the scriptures to him. And four times in the
book of Isaiah, it says that the Messiah shall give sight
to the blind." Now that meant something to Bartimaeus. Somebody
that wasn't blind, they think, well, if I ever get blind, that'll
be good. I'll need that. I'll set that aside. But I'll
tell you what, Bartimaeus heard it differently. He was blind.
He was blind as a bat. He couldn't see. There he sat
in darkness. And one day he heard that Jesus
of Nazareth had given sight to one who was born blind. And I don't have any doubt that
at this time he knew that Jesus Christ was the son of David,
the Messiah. He was a believer before this
event ever happened because he believed that Jesus was the Christ.
He believed he was the son of David. Only the son of David
could give sight to one who was born blind. And I can just see
him saying to himself, if he ever comes my way, I'm going
to cry out for mercy. Oh, that he would pass by this
way. I can't get him to, but if he
ever does, you can be sure of this. I'm going to cry out for
mercy. Well, he was sitting there by
the highway side, begging like he did every day. And he heard
a commotion. He couldn't see. So he said,
what's this all about? Jesus of Nazareth passeth by. Jesus, the Son of David, have
mercy on me. Verse 48, Verse 47, when he heard that
it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that
he should hold his peace. But what's it say he did? He
cried the more. You know, I love this. If somebody's
seeking the Lord, nobody's gonna stop him. He cried the more. Shut up, Bartimaeus. You shouldn't
say shut up to anybody. I know that, but that's what
they were saying to him. Be quiet, Bartimaeus. He cried the more.
A great deal. Have mercy on me, thou son of
David, have mercy on me. Now let me say this about mercy. If your sin is all your fault,
what you need is mercy. If you're a victim, if it's not
your fault, you don't so much need mercy, you need to be treated
right and be given what you really deserve and be treated in a way
of justice. But if your sin is all your fault,
you're no victim, every bit of it is your fault. You need mercy. Now that's what this man needed,
mercy. And look what verse 49 says,
and Jesus stood still. Do you know that if you cry for
mercy, he could stand still. He was on his way to the cross.
I have no doubt that many were repeating his name. He kept moving,
but at this cry for mercy, He stood still and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man
saying unto him, be of good comfort, rise, he calleth thee. And he
casting away his garment, rose and came to Jesus. Now there's
great significance to that. You see, if you come to Christ,
one thing you're going to get rid of is your filthy garment.
You don't want to bring that into his presence. Your righteousness,
your good works, your good deeds, your experience, your faith,
your repentance, your whatever it's that's yours. You know what
you're going to do? You're going to get rid of it. He got rid of his
garment and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, what wilt thou that I should do? unto thee. Now that's what I need is what
he does. What wilt thou that I should
do unto thee? The blind man saith unto him,
Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him,
go thy way. You've been set free. Go thy way. Thy faith hath made
thee whole. And immediately he received his
sight and followed Jesus in the way. What was his way? Go thy way. He followed Jesus
in the way. And that is the way of every
believer. This way of peace, this way of
righteousness, this way of truth, this way of holiness, this narrow
way is my way. Go thy way. And he followed Jesus
in the way. Let's pray. Lord, in Christ's name, we ask
that we might be in him the way to you, and that we would only
be in the way. Lord, deliver us from having
any other way, but him only. In Christ's blessed name, we
pray.