#218 – Ask For the Paths

ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS

Jer. 6:16 “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”

The image is from travelers who have lost their road, stopping and inquiring which is the right way on which they once had been, but from which they have wandered. This is a picture of Israel. They had walked in the right way but had wandered off from it. He is saying, “When you stand in the way, the way where two ways meet, look at the signs and follow the way that leads to the proper destination”. When this is applied to us the Bible is the way-mark. It is the only thing that will lead us into the way that pleases God. Let’s look at what this can mean to us.

THE OLD PATHS OF REPENTANCE

Man has wandered from the right path and is like the old Indian who had lost his way in the woods. He was met by a white man who ask, “Are you lost?” The old Indian could not admit he was lost in the woods so he said, “Indian not lost. Tee Pee lost!”

Israel would not ask for the old paths because they were unwilling to admit they were headed down the wrong road. That is where man is today. And that is the reason that many are unsaved in the Church. They got in on an empty profession without repentance. There is no salvation without repentance. Jesus made this clear in Luke 13:1 5, "There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Paul preached this on Mars Hill. Acts 17:30 31, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead."

There was a time when you went to Church and the preachers fearlessly preached repentance. He called men out of sin to the Saviour. Today many denominations are ordaining homosexuals and lesbians to the ministry. This is an abomination to God. When you are saved, you repent of sin, and the Scriptures list these actions as some of the worst sins.

THE OLD PATHS OF SALVATION BY GRACE

Ephesians 2:8 9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."

There is a perversion of the gospel that is being preached today. Paul dealt with this in Galatians 1:6 10, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."

It is still true that “any other gospel” that is preached perverts the true gospel and will not save. Salvation is God’s plan; it is God’s work. Jesus paid the price by Himself; Hebrews 1:3, "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins,