The Principle of the Right way

Transcript

so the subject we're going to consider this evening is the principle of the right way and we'll be considering in in depth the subject the way which is quite prominent throughout

scripture um so we have to ask ourselves what are the what is the value of principles principles are the foundational guidelines that are useful for making decisions solving problems and determining

standards this can apply to business to scientific theories to the common law that governs

Society uh but the subject that we want to focus in on tonight is the fundamental truths that support a system of belief the principles of scriptural truth the principles governing one's moral

Behavior U for example the Ten Commandments and the principle of mercy and forgiveness God revealed this principles that we may have

hope it is it is impossible to say how many principles in life there are however there is one principle which applies to every aspect of life and that is the rule of being Guided by

principles

okay okay there that's

fine this is especially true when we consider spiritual matters an underlying principle of the Bible is that there is a right way and a wrong way When approaching the almighty's offer of

Salvation God has put in motion principles and conditions that lead to Salvation thereby establishing the principle of the right

way Jesus warned mankind ignoring the principle the right way has consequences in Matthew 7 vers uh 13 and Matthew 713- 14 it says enter ye in at the street gate for wide is the gate and Broad is the way that leadth to destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadth onto life and few there be that find

it so what is the solution to this the solution is to CH to CH choose the right

way we should not be discouraged or dismayed that the application of God's principles requires obedience this is not an unusual concept Society is Guided by principles all organizations clubs and associations have rules and codes of Ethics that must be adhered to in order to be accepted and maintain good standing the CR criteria of our heavenly father is no different he has made his will and purpose known from the the beginning through his principles his statutes and his

laws Abraham is an example of the right way and being rewarded by God for following it in Genesis 26 um four and five and I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of the heaven and will give onto thy seed all these countries and in thy seed shall all nations of the earth be blessed because that Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge my Commandments my statutes and my

laws Commandments are a code of wisdom statutes are conditions prescribed and laws Divine

instructions if we have a desire to please our heavenly father then we must adhere to his ways Abraham was counted as righteous because of faith and obedience the principle of the right way is is certainly recognized in scripture God's creation was perfect and early it was based on the foundation foundational principle described as very good that's of course in Genesis 1 131 and God saw everything that he had made and behold it was very

good Adam lived in an ideal setting he was asked to maintain and manage the garden which would provide everything required for his survival which he would partake of without restriction they lived in an atmosphere of

innocence in Genesis 25 and 16 it says the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to to work and to take care of it and the Lord commanded the man you are free to eat from any tree in the

garden uh Genesis 2:25 and they were both naked and the man and his wife were not

ashamed at this time they had no proness to lust or sin and hence were not ashamed of their nakedness like God's creation they were very good in addition to his ground keepings duties he had one other condition placed upon him and his

wife the found in Genesis 217 you must not eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil the principle of the right way has been established the principle of obedience is introduced Adam was to abstain from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil God's requirement of Adam reflected the right way as a principle which had to be adhered to it was Adam who failed he corrupted himself and the Earth by his

Disobedience there are consequences for Disobedience which establishes a negative

principle and proverbs 10 and oh excuse me verse 17 of Genesis 2 for when ye eat of it you will certainly die Proverbs 10:29 the way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless but it is the ruin of those who do

evil Adam's Disobedience brought the penalty of death we we read in Romans that the wages of sin is death and a new principle is uh it's a negative principle but it's a new principle what we sow is what we

reap however the pronouncement of death was not immediate God in his Mercy provided a way of redemption to remove their

sin now look at Genesis 3:21 and the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed

them Psalm 321 blessed is the one whose transgression is Forgiven and whose sin is covered the covering of with skins required the shedding of blood establishing a another important principle one that would be enforced until the sacrifice of

Jesus and Hebrews 2 and9 and 22 supports this without the shedding of blood there is no remission or forgiveness of

sins what was the result of Adam's

transgression in Genesis 3:22 and the Lord said said to him the man has now become like one of us knowing good and evil we must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the Tree of Life and eat and live forever so the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been

taken the seriousness of of not falling the right way was reinforced when Adam was driven from from the garden excluding him from the comfort of the garden and from the presence of the Lord verse 24 after he drove the man out he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubin and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way of the life and in that word guard it is suggested it was to keep or to preserve the promise of Salvation if the right way was adhered

to Adam and Eve were now required to be

self-sufficient in judges

22122 it states I will no longer drive out the nation that Joshua left unconquered when he died I this I did this to test Israel to see whether they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did and this is an example that is that carried on even after Adam that the following of the right way to overcome sin is the challenge of all to all of mankind and all mankind must face

it Israel had violated God's covenant so they must suffer for their Disobedience the Nations around around them would become a snare to entice them into sin and we know from many aspects in Scripture that how this is played

out the pattern was established men and women would grow to understand that the way to Salvation was open but it was through a specific way the right way mankind is not always ready to accept the right way Cain is an example of resistance to this

principle

uh Genesis

4: 3 and 4 and the course in the course of time Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil an offering to the Lord and Abel also brought an offering fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock the Lord looked with favor on un Abel and his and his

offering what do we learn from these vers based on his experience in the garden Adam instructed his sons in the principle of the right way which consisted of a place to sacrifice was established and a specific offering was

required we see in this a pattern established making known that God expects to be approached in a specific way and that way must be adhered to So Adam found favor in God and Cain did not Cain's offering was rejected while Abel's was accepted Abel's acceptable offering testified to the fact that there is a right way to please God Cain's failure to recognize his principle led to

rejection what did what did God say to Kain in verses uh six and seven of Genesis 4 then the Lord said to Cain why are you angry why is your face downcast you will be accepted if you do what is right but if you refuse to do what is right then watch out sin is crouching at the door eager to control you but you must subdue it and be its

Master as a result Cain murders his brother and then in verse 16 it says so Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and lived in the Land of Nod East of

Eden uh the Land of Nod is an interesting um place I guess you'd say it's only mentioned once in the Bible and its actual location is unknown but the word nod means to to wander to be exiled or to

disappear and in Genesis and 14 it says uh regarding Cain you have banished me from the land and from your presence you have made me a homeless

Wanderer the Land of Nod refers to the land of wandering Cain continues to move further Eastward getting further and further away from the garden from his creator and from the Tree of Life our goal should be to avoid void the Land of Nod at all costs in Ezekiel 33 and20 it says yet ye say the way of the Lord is not equal I will judge everyone after his

ways so I think this was the attitude that Cain took that that God was unequal to him but the principle is that that regardless of what we think God will judge everyone after his ways whether it's the right way or the wrong

way this was Cain's attitude the lesson for us is we can become alienated from God if we fail to follow the right way with the death of Abel God provided a new

generation and we move on to Genesis 425 and 26 and Adam knew his wife again and she bear a son and called his name Seth for God said sheath appointed another seed instead of Abel who Cain

slew the word appointed here suggests that Seth was a replacement for AEL one who would follow the principle of the right way and the son was born to Seth whom he named enosh and at that time people began to Worship the Lord that's taken from verse

26 uh in the King James just to give you a little different rendering then began men to call upon the name of the Lord as the sons of God and in Young's literal translation then a beginning was made by preaching in the name of Jehovah and so we can see from this that a a structured wor worship of God was being introduced

this created a separation in the classes of mankind the descendants of Seth identified with God in name and deed and were known as the sons of God the descendants of Cain were known as the sons of men the descendants of Cain continued in their evil ways while the sons of God continued making a public profession of their attachment to the principle of the right way maintaining a a separation from the sons of men but not for long like every generation the sons of God had difficulty and do have difficulty stemming the tide of influence from the sons of men an attitude of liberalism arose in the Sons and Daughters of Seth creating a weakening of their commitment to the principle of the right way eventually the flesh created a co-mingling between the two classes of mankind in Genesis uh 61 and two we read and when mankind began to multiply on the earth and the daughters were born to them the sons of God saw that the daughters of mankind were beautiful and they took the any they chose as wives for

themselves those who would have been following the prin the right way brought Vain and disastrous consequences into their lives by adopting the wickedness of the descendants of Cain uh verses five and six and when the Lord saw that the human wickedness was wi spread on the earth and every inclination of the human mind was nothing but evil the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth and he was deeply

grieved the actions are described in verse 12 of Genesis 6 and God looked upon the Earth and behold it was corrupt for All Flesh had corrupted his way upon the

Earth this caus God to destroy the inhabitants of the Earth with a flood and in verse seven it states then the Lord said I will wipe mankind whom I created off the face of the Earth together with the animals for I regret that I have made

them in Jeremiah 5:4 we see this principles established therefore I said they are foolish for they know not the way of the Lord nor the Judgment of their

god without God's without God manifest excuse me without God mankind wanders in the Land of

Nod

so the actions of of of of the in Genesis 6 shows that they ignored the ways of God they were foolish and and they did not realize the Judgment that would come upon

them so sth descendants clung to the principle of the right way down to Noah who was identified as a man who walked with

God and I you might I I think you might safely say that Noah maybe was the last

individual that was walking in the in the way that the the seed of Seth was supposed to

walk thought a few um comments about Noah Genesis 689 but Noah found Grace in the eyes of the Lord Noah was a righteous man the only blameless person living on the earth at the time and he walked in close fellowship with God so he was he was you might say a survivor of all the evil that was going on in the Earth at that

time we know the story of the flood at the end of 40 days Noah and his family left the ark and the first thing he did was to build a alar and to offer a sacrifice to God Genesis

62021 then Noah built an altar to the lord and there he sacrificed a burnt offering the animals and the birds that had been approved for that purpose and the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the

sacrifice so you can see from what's stated here in verse 20 and 21 that Noah had maintained the right way that he he he found a place he offered a sacrifice and he offered a sacrifice that was approved so he was carrying on the principle of the right

way um Genesis or Jeremiah 5:5 I will get me great men and will speak onto them for they have known the way of the Lord and understand God's laws and of course this is fully Illustrated in the in the life of Noah and Noah understood this principle and is an excellent example for us to

follow God was pleased with the consistency of Noah's life which was a testimony to his faith in God and His adherence to the right

way now that same commitment of obedience is is true of Abraham unlike Cain who fled Eastward from the presence of the Lord Abraham now travels Westward to be in the presence of the Lord and we read in Genesis 18 and N uh verse 19 for I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is right and just so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised to him and it's comforting I think brothers and sisters that that same Assurance is given to us that he will fulfill what he has promised to

us it's a principle that de that demonstrates the Fidelity and faithfulness of our heavenly

father

Abraham's success was based on keeping God's way uh of righteousness not only for himself but for his children and for future

Generations uh another comment taken from Romans Faro Abraham verses 21 to 24 Abraham was fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised this is why his faith was credited to him as

righteousness the words it was credit to him were written not for him alone but for also for us to whom God will credit righteousness for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our lord from the

dead so now I think we would just um turn our attention for a few more minutes to the uh the New Testament where we find uh John the Baptist was commissioned to prepare the way of the Lord and make his path straight uh his his uh role was to introduce a New and Living Way and to introduce the

Messiah Luke uh 9 and

11 uh crowds followed Jesus and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God Jesus teaching would prompt questions regarding the kingdom and salvation and will and no doubt they would ask is there a right way to require to acquire salvation in response Jesus speaks of the

way in John 14: 6 Jesus said un to them I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except by

Me Jesus is establishing the right way the way to

Salvation and we have this we have an example of of uh one

seeking uh to ask which is what is the white right way and it was the the Rich Young Ruler in Mark in verse Mark

10:17 he said a man came running up to Jesus and asked good Master what must I do to inherit eternal life and Jesus reply was you know do you know the Commandments and he the young man replied master I have obeyed all these Commandments since I was young now comes the critical requirement Jesus said there is still one thing you haven't done he told him go and sell all your possessions and then come and follow

me and in verse 21 Jesus says

oh sorry I read that verse 22 and the young man's face fell and he went away sad for he had many

possessions Jesus's invitation to follow him challenges us with some basic and demanding requirements regarding the principle of the right way we share a commonality with the rich ruler generally we act in the right way in accordance with God's will

it is not difficult to comply with what comes easy to us the test is to relinquish what is naturally important to us as we saw with the the rich young man he went away

sad but what are we required to to relinquish and this is only a few I'm sure you'll think of many yourself but we have to relinquish our self-esteem our need to be right our social standing or in general whatever is very important to

us so there are three

titles that were attributed to Jesus he says that I am the way the truth and the

life following Jesus literally becomes the principle of the right way because he establishes is the principle the right way by saying that he is the way and that he is the truth and he is the life and there are many quotes in scripture containing the phrase the way um we're going to just look at a few um mainly in Acts acts 9:2 this is Saul requests permission to arrest the followers of Jesus If he if he found any belonging to the way he might bring them to Jerusalem so like this is established the fact that Jesus is the way that his followers are referred to as the way uh second Peter 2:15 describes those who have forsaken Jesus who have forsaken the right way and have gone

astray um the preaching of Aquilla and Priscilla to Apollo acts

18:26 all Apollos had been instructed in the way of the Lord more

perfectly and the riot in in um Ephesus and acts 19:23 about the time serious trouble developed in the Ecclesia con and excuse me in Ephesus concerning the

way and in the maid with the spirit of denition

acts 16 and 17 these men who Proclaim to you the way of

Salvation was the the statement that she

made so some embrace the right way While others seek their own way those who abandon God's way reflect the attitude stated in the Book of Judges judges 17-6 every man did which was right in his own eyes

and it's very um similar to our society when you when you consider the emphasis that is placed on human rights uh in almost every aspect and sphere of life

so we're we're being influenced the same as they were at the time of the judges so it's not unlike the society we live

in uh now we're going to just switch gears here because there are some lessons to be learned from from the righteous and the unrighteous and we've already spoke about some of these worthies of all but we're just going to make a quick comment on on them again Adam in Proverbs 14 and 12 it says there's a way that seeth right to a person but its end is the way to death this proverb is descrip descriptive of Adam he knew what his creator desired

he knew that his creator desired obedience yet when the trial came he chose another way which he for which he paid a terrible price for his unfaithfulness that experience was a valuable lesson reinforcing that there is a right way no doubt Adam shared his experiences with his children as evidence in the lives of Cain and Abel um and his grandson

Seth some chose the right way and some chose the wrong way we can benefit from Adam's experience we if when we falter in the way we have the Assurance of God's mercy trusting that in confession and renewed

determination to obedience God will forgive us and redeem

us what an important and Powerful lesson to share with our own families as Adam did what about Cain Cain was a worshipper of God as demonstrated by his desire to bring an offering to the Lord but only was only prepared to do so on his terms you know and there's a great lesson in that for for us we can't come to God on our own terms we have to come to God on the terms that he

establishes and Jude refers to to Cain's um attitude as the way of Cain Cain had good intentions but neglected the right way that his father had shared with

him the way of Cain is the way of is is the way to disaster and in Romans 28 it says but for those but for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil there will be Roth and anger and this is of course what Cain

experienced the same is true for us God has provided the right way when we ignore that way we do so at our own Peril and in this chapter in verse uh 10 but glory honor and peace for everyone who does good so all of those wonderful blessings would come upon those who follow the right way and so brothers and sisters let us choose the right way Cain had lost perspective we also can lose perspective let us commit to trusting in God's requirements seeking after glory honor and

peace Abraham was referred to as the friend of God what an honor that would be to be known as God's friend in James 4 and4 know that friendship of the world is emity with God whoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of

God if we Embrace God's Commandments we become his friend if we embrace the standards of the world we become his enemy no one can serve two masters it's as simple as

that

so A few comments on the challenge of the right

way we can ask ourselves the question how badly do we want to follow

Jesus do we want it enough to give up what is important to us do we want it enough to to follow his

teachings we all want the goodness and Grace of the Lord but how many of us want it bad enough to pay the price the rich ruler wanted salvation but not to the point of giving up what was important to us let us not Rob Our Father by wasting the potential he has endowed us

with when we examine the intensity of the world we live in and the many insolvable problems that are consuming the Earth we are led to the conclusion that we are on the cusp of the last

days in these last days God has given us the tools to prepare ourselves for his kingdom in second Peter 1:3 it states and God has given unto us all things that pertain unto life life and godliness he has prepared us to strengthen

ourselves in the right way we have been instructed in the principles of the right way these principles are throughout the Bible and as we do our readings we discover more and

more so to close uh brothers and sisters let us embrace the right way and live Godly and faithful lives as we await the consummation of all things let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promise and let us exhort one another and so much the more as we see the day

approaching thank you very much