14. Proverbs 14 verse 12. There is a way which seemeth
right unto a man. but the end thereof are the ways
of death. Let's pray. Lord, we ask your
blessing upon these messages today. We ask that you would
be with our pastor as he stands this morning and preaches your
word. Lord, please bless the conference down there in College
Grove. Lord, we know that you are our
only way, and we beg that you would not let us look to any
other way than Christ the Lord. In his name we ask. Amen. Now, if you were to ask a dozen
people how it is that they thought a man can be right with God,
you would get a dozen different answers. You would get a dozen
different ways that seemed right to each individual. And if you
were to ask the whole world that same question, you would get
a world's worth of answers. Every man saying what he thought
seemed right to them. You see, the man spoken of in
this verse, there's a way that seems right unto a man. That
man really represents all of humanity, because there's a way
that seems right unto every man, and that way is salvation by
works. trying to gain acceptance before
God by one's own righteousness. It is the way of unregenerate
man to go about establishing his own righteousness, being
ignorant of God's righteousness. Now, however much one man's way
may appear to differ from another man's way, If their way of salvation
is not through the shed blood of Christ alone, then that way
that they're trusting in is really nothing more than a way that
just seems right, but is actually terribly wrong. It is so right
to trust in Christ, and it is so wrong to trust in yourself.
Yet trusting in oneself is the way that every unbeliever holds
dear to his heart. And likewise, every believer
before he was called by God's grace was also possessed of that
way that ends in death before Christ became his way. Now, when
something just seems right to you, when it just seems right,
it means you don't actually know if it really is right. and what you're basing the rightness
of your knowledge on is really just your own thoughts. Well,
I think that God would just love everybody. It seems to me, it
seems to make sense to me that Christ would have died for everybody
in order to give everybody a chance. Well, okay, that's what you think,
but what did the scripture say? husbands love your wives, even
also as Christ loved the church, not everybody, and gave himself
for it, also not everybody." Isn't that simple? That's just
so simple. There's no thinking involved, just believing the
scriptures. Now, when the Lord takes a man
from trusting his own thoughts, and from trusting what seems
to make sense to him, to trusting what the scriptures say, then
everything really does just make sense. Whatever thoughts we have
of God, how God saves, and who we ourselves are, they had better
be thoughts that align with what the scriptures say about God,
how God saves, and who we are, which are sinners. Those are
the only thoughts that I want to have, what saith the scriptures. Turn with me to Jude. When I think of this way that
seems right to a man, here's what comes to my mind anyways.
Verse 11. Woe unto them, for they have
gone in the way of Cain. And the way of Cain is synonymous
with salvation by works, is it not? Now, Jude here in the context
is speaking of false prophets, false teachers, but really this
applies to anyone who trusts in something within themselves
and not Christ only. As the hope of being right with
God, everyone and anyone who attempts to bring something that
they themselves have done to the table of God's salvation
has gone in the way of Cain." Turn to Genesis 4. We'll be spending
a little bit of time here. Now what was Cain so guilty of? What was he so infamous for that
the spirit would prompt Jude to speak of his name so negatively
and refer to what he did as the way of Cain? Could you imagine
doing something so bad that it was called the way of so-and-so,
the way of Evan. Now, what did Cain do that was
so terrible that it would be forever known as the way of Cain?
Well, probably the first thing that most people would think
of is when he murdered his brother. And that was certainly one crime
he was guilty of. But while he committed one sin
against his brother, He committed two sins against God, and murdering
Abel was his second sin. The first, and maybe even the
worst, was when Cain brought his own offering to God apart
from what the Lord actually commanded. Let's look in verse 1. And Adam
knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bear Cain and said, I have
gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bear his brother
Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep,
but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time,
it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an
offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of
the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord
had respect unto Abel and to his offering, but unto Cain and
his offering he had not respect. So these two men bring an offering
to God, Cain an offering from something he planted, and Abel
a blood sacrifice. Now we don't know if the Lord
had commanded these two men directly or if he told Adam, and Adam
told his sons, but either way we know that they were to bring
an offering to the Lord. And the Lord wouldn't have commanded
that they bring just any offering, bring whatever it is you think
is right. No, that's man's way. Man's way
says you bring whatever you want. You bring your good intentions,
your good works, your religious ceremonies, hoping that they'll
be accepted by God, even though they won't, but just hoping that
they will be. Now, you know, if the Lord had
told these two men to bring an offering, whatever it is that
they wanted, day in and day out, every day, but not actually telling
them what to bring, it would never have occurred to them to
bring a blood sacrifice. They would have brought something
that they just thought God would be pleased with, and the Lord
would have had no respect towards either Cain or Abel's offering. It would never have occurred
to them to bring a slain lamb, and that's what the Lord requires.
Now, in much the same way, we would never have thought that
a crucified, bloody Christ was what the Lord required for your
and my salvation. We would have continued to bring
our own offerings before the Lord to which he would have no
respect. And that's what the whole world
is doing, bringing their own offerings day in and day out,
not knowing, not caring what the Lord requires. They have
gone the way of Cain and they just continue to do what seems
right to them. No, the Lord gave these two men
specific instruction as to what to bring. You bring a blood sacrifice
and you don't bring anything else. You don't dare bring any
other offering than what I've commanded. And Cain could not
claim ignorance in this. Both he and Abel heard the same
message. And I know what Cain must have
been thinking. God wants me to bring a what? It must have seemed
silly to Cain that God wanted a blood sacrifice. Wouldn't it
make more sense to bring something that I worked hard for? Wouldn't
God be more pleased at seeing the effort that I put into this
offering? And people think the same thing
about Christ's offering to the Father. It seems so strange to
most that through the blood of Christ, Salvation would be wrought,
and it seems so right that it would be obtained through our
own works. We think we know better than
God. And in his willful neglect to
bring what the Lord had commanded, Cain was essentially telling
God, I know better than you. I have my own thoughts about
what I should bring, and Cain's offering was rejected. Now, it wasn't just his offering, but
Cain himself was rejected, and such is the man who brings his
own offering before the Lord. You know, those workers of iniquity
in Matthew 7, they themselves were rejected, not just their
many wonderful works or their exercising of demons or prophesying,
but their very own persons. And so Cain was very wroth and
his countenance fell. He was mad, he couldn't take
it. And you know, there's nothing
that will incite a man's anger more than being told that his
way is not right. It's a way that he's trusted
in because he thinks he's gaining favor from God by that way. So Cain got mad, he got sad,
and the Lord gave him counsel. And the Lord said unto Cain,
why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou
not be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire,
and thou shalt rule over him." Cain should have received what
the Lord said, but Cain was a Pharisee. And like the Pharisees of Jesus'
time, Cain rejected the counsel of God against himself. And here's
what this led to. Verse 8, Cain talked with Abel,
his brother. And it came to pass, when they
were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother
and slew him." And you know what they were talking about in that
field? They were talking about the offerings that they brought. Why did God have respect to you
and your offering, but not to me and my offering? How is it
that I worked so hard to produce the choicest fruits of the ground. I sweated, I toiled, and all
you do is kill a lamb and bring it before God, and I'm rejected
and you're accepted?" You can imagine the envy that must have
coursed through his veins. He just couldn't take it. You
mean to say that I've gone to church all my life, and that
I've been indoctrinated in its traditions, and I'm a well-respected
elder, and I've taught Sunday school all my life for many years,
and I try to be as good and as honest and as upright and as
loving and as kind a person as I can be, and you, you just rest
in Christ and believe in what He's done, and you're a child
of God and I'm not? Grace is an impossible thing
to understand for those who have not tasted it. Now I had a guy
once tell me that he thought I had a lazy religion, a lazy
religion. And at the time, I was just as
much an unbeliever as he was. I didn't know Christ. But it
wasn't until years later that I thought, well, if my believing
that Christ has done everything in my salvation and I've done
absolutely nothing prompts you to call me lazy, well, that casts
no fears or doubts in my mind. That does not tempt me in the
least to begin trying to work for my salvation. As long as
you know that I trust in the grace of God alone for my salvation
and in nothing of myself, then by all means, call me lazy all
you want. That is just fine. Now Cain didn't
understand grace, and he didn't understand the necessity of bringing
what the Lord required. He didn't know that that slain
lamb that Abel brought typified the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, slain from the foundation of the world. He didn't know
that Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice, which was
to foreshadow Christ, who bore the sins of many. So Cain, out
of envy, arose and slew his brother, who became the first martyr.
And it was all because He went his own way, a way that seemed
right unto him. And this isn't the very first
example of this in the scriptures. Look at the previous chapter,
chapter three. Here's another thing that seems
right unto a man, unto every man. Verse six, and when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was pleasant
to the eyes and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she
took of the fruit thereof and did eat and gave also unto her
husband with her and he did eat and the eyes of them both were
open and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons. Adam and Eve partook
of the forbidden fruit. They sinned against the Lord. They saw themselves as naked
before God. And what is it that they did?
They took fig leaves and made a covering for themselves. And
that is exactly what man tries to do regarding his sin. They
attempt to cover up their own sin by their own works, their
own self-righteousness, thinking that somehow God will be okay
with that and admit them into his kingdom. But there's nothing
more than trying to cover But that's nothing more than
trying to cover one's own leprosy with a filthy garment. That doesn't
cleanse the leper of his leprosy. And when one comes before the
Lord in that way, that's exactly how they appear. And it's significant
that Adam and Eve used fig leaves, of all things. Now, when you
get the chance, go ahead and Google pictures of fig leaves.
And what you'll see is that they bear a resemblance to a human
hand. I saw one that looked like a
little palm, and it had five long, thin leaves coming out. What it represents, what those
fig leaves represent is a man's hand at work trying to cover
his own sin, trying to sweep it under the rug. And that's
exactly what Adam and Eve did, that which seemed right in their
own eyes. Now, what did the Lord do? Look at verse 21. Also, and to his wife, did the
Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them. Adam and Eve
went their own way in attempting to cover themselves, and now
they witnessed the Lord's way and how he would cover them.
And there's no doubt that the Lord used skins of a lamb to
clothe them. They saw the Lord himself slay
an innocent lamb. They had never seen anything
die before, much less actually seen a slain bloody mess. It must have been quite a horrific
shock to them. And what a shock it is to the
believer when he finds out that it took the father to slay his
son in order to cleanse him of his own righteousness. of his
own sin and cover him with the righteousness of Christ. How
men love to go their own way. Now, I know the fallen, depraved
state of man is seen in a lot of different ways, but none more
clearly than this. He believes that he can approach
God robed in his own righteousness and present to him some work
that comes from himself that he hopes God will be pleased
with. That is the way that always seems
right to man and it always leads to spiritual death. And there
are so many examples of this in the scripture. I'll just mention
a few. Uzzah thought it seemed right
to put his hand to that ark to keep it from falling, and the
Lord killed him right there. Man is always trying to put his
hand to what God does, but the gospel does not need our support. When King Uzziah's heart was
lifted up to destruction, He thought to take it upon himself
to go into the sanctuary and offer up incense apart from the
mediation of a priest. And the Lord struck him with
leprosy. And he died a leper in a leper colony. Now may the
Lord restrain us from ever thinking to approach to him apart from
Christ, our only mediator. David thought it seemed right
to number the Israelites. He counted them as the people
of God apart from that atonement money, and the Lord sent a plague
and killed 70,000 men because of it. We ought to never think
of ourselves as God's children apart from being purchased by
the blood of Christ. Peter thought it seemed right
to make three tabernacles, one for Elijah, one for Moses, one
for Christ, as if to say that Moses and Elijah were due equal
reverence or on equal footing with Christ. And the father spoke
from a cloud and said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well
pleased, hear him. You know, Peter also thought
it right to move from the Gentile table to the Jewish table, implying
that the Jews were somehow closer or more special to God and thereby
compromising the gospel. And Paul withstood him to his
face. Paul himself was positively convinced of the rightness of
what he did in killing God's saints. He had a bloodlust for
all those who exalted Christ as the only true and living God
and could think of nothing better. than to prove his religious devotion
by slaying them. But the Lord saved him in spite
of himself. And now apart from God's grace,
we will always do what seems right to us. So we've taken note
of that way that seems right. We've seen the crookedness of
that crooked stick, the false way. What about the way that
actually is right? What about that straight stick,
the straight way? the gospel way. Turn to John
14. In verse 6, Jesus gives three
descriptions for himself, but what's the very first thing he
says? I am the way, not I'll show you the way or that I'll
point the way out to you or that I am a way among many, but I
am all there is. I'm all you have. I am salvation. Now I imagine the phrase all
roads lead to Rome is probably pretty popular in the religious
world as it is believed that it equally applies to God, but
that's so ridiculous. It's so foolish because there
is only one road and not all roads that lead to God. I am
the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. A man will be ignorant of truth,
and he'll be void of any life, of eternal life, if he does not
have Christ as his only way. If Christ is his way, he'll be
truth, and he'll be life, and he'll be righteousness, and he'll
be peace to him, and he'll lack nothing. Now if salvation by
works If going the way of Cain is the way that seems right to
man, then Christ is the way that seems wrong to man. Paul said
that after the way which they call heresy, so worship I the
God of my fathers. Men thought evil of Christ in
his day, and they still think evil of him today, and apart
from God's grace, so would we. Not only could men do without
him, they would do away with him if they could. But to the
believer, he is indispensable. He has done without every other
way that he's trusted in apart from Christ to Christ. To the
believer, Christ is his only way. And to the unbeliever, he
is still the only way. If you are to come into the presence
of the Father and stand justified before Him, it won't be by any
other way but by the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to John
10. John 10, verse 1. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold. But climbeth up some other way,
the same as a thief and a robber." And you know what this climbing
represents? It represents your own effort,
your own strength, your own skill. And really this is an issue of
who gets the glory. If you can scale those walls
or leap over that fence, then you've got no one to thank but
yourself and you get all the glory. But the Lord won't permit
that because he's going to get it all. Look at verse seven. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
I am the door of the sheep. Look at verse nine. I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall
go in and out and find pasture. How hard is it to just go through
that door? Christ said he's that door and
all who enter in that way which is the only way to enter, they
freely confess and love that Christ gets all the glory. They
say it's not of works of righteousness, which we've done, but by his
mercy, he saved us. There are a lot of different
ways that people try to approach God. but they all fall under
the same category, works and self-righteousness. Don't try
to come your own way. It will be the spiritual death
of you. Rather, come the way of grace,
pleading his unmerited favor despite your demerit of it, knowing
that it is his grace that saves and that it's not of yourselves.
Come the way of mercy. Begging that the Lord would restrain
a wrathful hand though you know you deserve otherwise. Begging
him to keep you safe in Christ under his blood that the death
angel may pass you by. Come the way of faith, believing
how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
Believing that he accomplished redemption for his people. and
that his shed blood is all that is necessary for the putting
away of your sins. Come the narrow way, which is
Christ alone, because it leads to eternal life, and don't go
that broad way. Don't go that broad path, even
though it's easy and charming and numbing and anesthetizing,
because it will lead to your destruction. Don't go the way
of Cain. If the Lord ever convinces us
that His way is right, that is Christ, the only way, He'll also
convince us that the way that seemed right to us is actually
wrong. When He convinces you that the
way of grace is what saves, He'll convince you that the way of
works is what damns. I want to close with one verse
from Proverbs, Proverbs 12. To quote the text again, there
is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death. That is man's way. Now here is
God's way. Proverbs 12, verse 28, in the
way of righteousness is life. and in the pathway thereof there
is no death." That is a good way to be on. That is the only
way that I want to be on. Christ as my righteousness, Christ
as my life, Christ as my only way.