Walk in the Way of Good Men

Introduction to Proverbs and the Effects of Wisdom

0:03 A portion of Holy Scripture in which God has chosen to communicate to us in a very unique verbal form. Proverbs are those pithy, catchy statements which attack the mind with unusual vigor and force and are like verbal birds. They have a way of sticking on the mind and therefore the mind is able to retain the truth that comes in proverbial form. This is commonly acknowledged in every sphere of human experience and all of us have heard various proverbs touching on practical matters of human experience.

0:44 A bird in hand is worth more than four in the bush. It's better to have something than a bunch of promises that you may have something in the future and we find proverbs on every hand which are very useful. And so because proverbs are simply a matter common to human experience that they do attack the mind with unusual vigor and attach themselves to the mind with unusual strength God in the inspiration of his word does not bypass the natural but he seizes it and makes it the vehicle by which he communicates his own eternal truth to our hearts. And we are presently studying in the second chapter of proverbs a chapter in which Solomon writing to his son

1:27 sets forth first of all the path by which true wisdom is to be attained in the first five verses of this chapter. He tells his son that if he will expose himself to the commandments of God if he will incline his ear and apply his heart to learn this wisdom if he will cry out for wisdom if he will seek it as silver and as hid treasure then he will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of the holy. So he not only gives the path to attain wisdom but he defines what true wisdom is. True wisdom is not the ability to penetrate great scientific and philosophic mysteries

2:12 it's the ability to know God and to walk before God in a way that is pleasing unto him. And a man who doesn't know that is a fool. I don't care if he's got 17 Ph.D. degrees.

2:25 For the scripture says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and the knowledge of the holy is true understanding. Well then he goes on in this chapter to say the practical effects that this knowledge this true wisdom will have and he summarizes it in verses 10 and 11 for wisdom shall enter into thy heart and knowledge shall be pleasant to thy soul discretion shall watch over thee understanding shall keep thee. He says this heavenly wisdom is not something in abstraction that the great brilliant men contemplate when they go into their studies with their walls lined with books and then they come out and forget that wisdom. He said this is the kind of wisdom that will actually be with you exerting an influence upon you

3:10 and over you in the real nitty gritty of life. This wisdom will enter into your soul and heart and it will preserve you and keep you from sin. For your greatest enemy is not communist China or Russia Your greatest enemy is not a crumbling economy. Your greatest enemy is not cancer.

3:31 Your greatest enemy is sin. Only sin can damn you.

3:37 No communist can send you to hell. Sin can. Cancer can't send you to hell. Sin can.

Three Preserving Functions of Heavenly Wisdom

3:45 And so God's antidote to this terrible malady of sin is the preserving and sanctifying power of heavenly wisdom. That wisdom, of course, which is bound up in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ who is called in the scriptures wisdom. Well then, having given the general principle that this wisdom which comes to those who seek it, who cry out for it, who expose themselves to the words of scripture, this wisdom that will enter into the heart and into the soul, preserving them, having stated the general principle, Solomon is not content to stop in generalities. And so beginning, with verse 12, he goes on to state three particular ways

4:30 that this wisdom will actually work in its preserving and sanctifying influence. Verse 12, to deliver thee from the way of evil men. He says to his son, if this wisdom enters your heart and you go out into a world where men are waiting like birds of prey to pounce upon you and to drag you into their evil ways, this is the thing that will preserve you from the way of evil. It will keep you from sinful patterns and actions in general.

5:03 But then he goes on to the particular in verse 16 that we studied last week. To deliver thee from the strange woman, from the foreigner that flattereth with her words. And he goes on to describe the immoral woman who is also out there ready to influence this young man. And Solomon says, how are you to be preserved?

5:23 I send you out into the world with all of my power, with all of your normal appetites and passions. And there are wicked people and unprincipled people who will capitalize upon the guilelessness of your youth and seek to drag you into ways of evil. He said, my son, it's as true heavenly wisdom enters into your soul that you'll be preserved from the evil woman or from sexual sins in particular. And the Bible is not at all fastidious about these matters since these are part of the nitty gritty of life and present in the world.

5:55 The preservation from sin is nothing unless it preserves from this sin that has slain its thousands upon thousands and brought whole nations into destruction. Witness Solomon Gomorrah. And so he says to his son, here is a sure preservative not only against the sinful patterns of men in general, but these sexual sins that are prominent and prevalent in particular. And then we come tonight to verse 20.

6:24 Here it says, Here is the third practical function of this heavenly wisdom that thou mayest walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous. So then this heavenly wisdom will accomplish these three things. It will preserve from evil men. It will preserve from evil women.

6:47 And it will guide us into the way of good men or into the way of gospel holiness. Now we shall study then verse 20 under the general heading The Word of Wisdom and the Way of Holiness. Solomon says to his son, This is the third and great and powerful effect of heavenly wisdom entering the soul. It will guide you into the way of holiness.

Defining 'Good Men' Biblically

7:17 Now that way is called in this passage the way of good men and the paths of the righteous. And so, the first thing we're going to do tonight is to try to come up with a working definition and description of this way of good men. It does no good to say it will guide us into the way of good men unless we know what that way is. Then having looked at a definition and description of the way of good men, we shall then seek to deal with the matter of the necessity of entering upon that way.

7:52 And then last of all, we will draw some practical, practical conclusions concerning that way. In the first place then, what is this way of good men into which divine wisdom will lead us? That thou mayest walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous. Well, we can't describe it or define it without first of all asking the question, who are these good men who are called the righteous?

8:22 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous. Now, who are they? Well, negatively, they are not people who are naturally good and righteous and religious as opposed to those who are bad, unrighteous and irreligious. The Bible everywhere teaches that there is no man on the face of the earth who is good by nature.

8:51 A man is totally ignorant of the Scriptures who has any notion that there is any innate goodness in any man by nature. The Scripture again and again asserts what is summarized in a passage like Romans 3 and verse 10. And now I quote from that passage. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one.

9:18 There is none that understand it. They are all gone out of the way. There is none that, that doeth good, no, not one. Again, the Scripture says in Ecclesiastes, there is not a just man upon the face of the earth that doeth good and sinneth not.

9:38 And so if you have any notion that there is any goodness in you or anyone else by nature, you are ignorant of the Bible and ignorant of your own heart. Oh, you say you sound very bombastic and authoritative. Who in the world do you think you are? Well, my friend, that would be the height of crass, bombasty, but I'm not telling you my opinions.

9:58 I'm telling you what God says. This is what God says in His Word as it is written. Not as the preacher said, who happened to be preaching in a converted gin mill on Runnymede Road, but the Scripture said, there is none good, no, not one.

10:20 You say, I don't see it that way. Well, you don't see right.

10:26 As you're looking at yourself through colored glasses, distorted glasses, but yet this text says, the purpose of divine wisdom received into the heart is to guide a man into the way of good men. Well, if nobody's good by nature, how do they come to this place of being good? Well, they're not good by nature. Scripture says it.

10:49 And they're not a people who have made themselves good by sheer determination and willpower. Some people would grant, that's right, nobody's good by nature, but some people have stronger wills than others and they've cut the cord, because of their own sin and they've patched up their own inadequacies and they've become good men out of bad men. Well, the Bible says you can't do that. Jesus said in John 8, 34, whosoever commits sin is the slave of sin.

11:17 The Scripture says, can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? And the answer's obvious. Little Liza Leopard gets up one morning and looks in the mirror and she says, I'm sick and tired of going out with all these spots on. I think the boys would like me a little bit better if I went out with no spots.

11:33 So she takes, she takes her talcum powder and she dusts herself and she thinks, well, I'm just going to go out and spot this leopard. Well, on the way to go out and flirt with the boys,

11:44 a rainstorm comes.

11:46 And poor Liza looks in the mirror and there are her spots all over again. Can the leopard change his spots? What's the answer? Of course not.

11:55 Then God goes on to say, so neither can they who are accustomed to doing evil do good. No, no. These people did not become good men because they had unusual strong willpower and they made themselves good or made themselves righteous. Well, if not, how come they're called good?

12:15 How is it that they are called the righteous? Well, let me answer that question scripturally. Good men are those who have become good only as their sins have been forgiven by another. Only as their nature has been changed by another.

12:37 Only as their confidence for forgiveness and grace to be good has been totally transferred from themselves to another. David was a good man in the biblical sense. And you ask David, how did you get this way? You know what his answer would be?

12:55 Psalm 32. Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity. You see, David, had realized if he had any goodness, it was because God was pleased to forgive his sins solely on the basis of his own grace.

13:16 Again, good men are those who not only acknowledge that their sins have been forgiven by another, but that their nature has been changed by another. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. God has done something upon him and in him. Old things are passed away.

13:35 Behold, all things, are become new. Good men are those whose confidence is totally transferred to another. That's why Paul, St. Paul was a good man in the biblical sense.

13:47 He could say, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Christ. He said, My only glorying is not in any goodness I may have in myself. I had them. It is not that I had an unusually strong will and I changed myself from a bad man to a good man.

14:03 He said, I glory in the fact that it was wholly the work of another. Good men are those who accept God's indictment against themselves. God says of them, You're a sinner by nature and by practice. Good men are those who say, Oh God, that's true.

14:21 You say, That doesn't make sense. How can a good man be a sinner who admits he's a sinner? Well, you just read your Bible and you find in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus talks about two men who went up to a temple to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other a what?

14:34 A publican. The Pharisee, he thought he was a good man and he said, And he stood off and lifted up his eyes to heaven, the Scripture says, and I'm quoting now from the 18th chapter of Luke. And he says, Oh God, I thank Thee I'm not his other man. Not even like that publican out there who's also come up to the temple.

14:52 Why? I fast and I tithe and I am not like the publican. I am not guilty of the sins of others. I am a good man.

15:03 You know what the Scripture says of that man? God didn't hear his prayer. God regarded him as a bad man. But that publican stood off in the distance and beat upon his breast and said, Oh God, be merciful to me, the sinner.

15:17 And Jesus said, That man went down to his house justified. God declared him good. The one who took his place as a sinner. Why?

15:28 Because it is never good to have a controversy with God and God says, You're a sinner. Depraved and polluted and defiled to every last fiber of your being. You're a sinner. You're a sinner.

15:39 You're a sinner. And a good man is the man who says, Oh God, everything you say about me is true. And then some.

15:48 A good man not only accepts God's indictment against him, but he despairs of ever changing his own heart. He acknowledges that he can no more break the chains that bind him or cleanse his own sins than he can lift himself up by his own bootstraps. A good man is the one who casts himself in to the gospel way of forgiveness which is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So when Solomon says to his son that thou mayest walk in the way of good men, who is he describing?

16:26 He's describing the way that David walked, his father. The way that Abraham walked. The way that Moses and Isaac and Jacob walked. The way that later on Paul and Matthew and Peter would walk.

16:42 And what did all these men have in common? If you take them all the way from Abraham down to St. John and St. Paul, what is it that makes them in common, good men?

16:54 They would all say with one voice and sing without any dissident note, we are sinners by nature and practice. We deserve nothing but divine wrath. We are polluted in the depths of our being, but blessed be God for His grace and mercy that has forgiven us and changed us and in gratitude put into our hearts a desire to please Him and to follow Him. Now that's the Bible's description of a good man.

17:28 And so Solomon says to his son, if you will receive this word into your heart, it will not only preserve you from evil men, it will not only preserve you from evil women, but it will give guide you into the companionship and fellowship of those good men, those righteous men, the saints of God of all ages, who had no goodness of their own, but who found mercy and acceptance through the merits and work of another. Now you see, the Bible only knows one other class of people, bad men and bad women, nothing in between. Good men, in the sense we've described it from the Scriptures,

18:13 and bad men. Now there are proud bad men who don't feel that they are sinners like that Pharisee says, I'm not like other men. I'm a good man of myself and God says you're wicked in your pride. Then there are the self-sufficient good men.

18:28 They don't feel their chains of sin, hence they think there are none. You see, the man who staggers down the street dead drunk, he may have some living monuments of his bondage to demon alcohol, but these people aren't bound to drink, they aren't bound to lechery, they aren't bound to any overt sin, but they're filled with the wickedness of self-sufficiency. Or they may be filled with the wickedness of self-willed rebellion against God like that rich young ruler. He was a very upright, moral, we would say good man, but when the Son of God says sell what you have, come follow me, he says no sirree, I'm going to keep my riches.

19:08 I'm not going to do what you tell me. Then there are the self-indulgent wicked people who feel that every itch of every appetite is a call to indulge themselves without any reference to God's law. And so they become gluttons, they become whoremongers, they become harlots, they become thieves, they become liars. Why?

19:29 Because they live for one thing, to gratify their own selfish appetites. And the scripture says all who are not good men in the Bible description of good are wicked and are evil men. And so Solomon sets before his son that there are only those two paths open to him and that if he will apply himself to absorbing the words of heavenly wisdom he will be guided into the path of good men. Now notice a second word that's here and it must be dealt with in the description of the way of good men.

The Lifestyle of 'Good Men': Four Characteristics

20:06 He says that thou mayest walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous. Having defined who the good men are and the righteous, now we must ask the question what is their way? What is the way of good men and the paths of the righteous? Well, a way is a pattern of life, a course of conduct, a habit of existence.

20:35 You might say of a certain person, well, that's his way of doing things. What do you mean when you say that? You mean that's his pattern. You can count on him to do it that particular way.

20:46 Or you hear someone say of someone else, well, don't mind him, that's just his way. That's his course of conduct. We use the term in the same sense that it's used here. So when Solomon says to his son that heavenly wisdom, the word of God will guide you into the way of good men, he's saying this, it will guide you into the pattern of life that they live, to use the contemporary term, it will bring you into conformity with the lifestyle of good men.

21:19 And what is the lifestyle of good men when we describe those men biblically now? We're not using human definitions, but we're using biblical definitions. Well, the lifestyle of a good man biblically is a way of life characterized by at least four things constantly, always, whatever else it may have, short hair, long hair, no beard, some beard, half a beard, mustache, goatee, bell bottoms, not so bell bottomed, no matter what else is characteristic of good men. This will be characteristic of every single one of them, at least four things.

21:56 The way of good men, the lifestyle of good men is first of all a way of constant repentance for their sins.

22:07 Jesus said, blessed are they who what? Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. What did Abraham have in common with David and David with Isaac and Isaac with Jacob and Jacob with Paul and Paul with Moses?

22:28 I'll tell you one of the things they all had in common in their lifestyle, in their whole pattern of life, the way of good men. It was a way of constant repentance for their sins. For though they had their sins forgiven and were accepted on the basis of their sins, they were not forgiven on the basis of the righteousness of Christ. They were conscious of much remaining sin within them, but they never took the attitude, oh well, sin is like a balding head.

22:56 If it comes, nothing you can do about it. Or sin is like an epidemic of the measles. If it comes, just accept it. They grieved over their sins.

23:05 If you don't believe me, read the 51st Psalm. There's David, who's in the way of good men. Listen to him as he cries out, have mercy upon me, O God. According to the most, the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions against Thee and Thee only have I sinned and done this evil in Thy sight, that Thou mayest be justified when Thou speakest and clear when Thou judgest.

23:30 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. What's he doing? He's mourning the reality of his sinfulness. Not only the sinfulness of his deeds, what he did, but the sinfulness of his nature, what he was.

23:46 That's not only the sinfulness of his deeds, it's not only true of David, it's true of St. Paul. What a good man he was. What a godly man.

23:54 And yet, listen to St. Paul in Romans 7. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? The good that I would, I do not.

24:04 The evil that I would not, that I do. When I would do good, I find that a law on my members bringing me into captivity. O wretched man that I am. What's that?

24:14 It's the cry of repentance over the awareness of his sinfulness.

24:20 Listen to St. John. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. If we confess our sins, he didn't say if you confess yours, he said if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

24:42 Let me ask you tonight, are you walking in the way of good men? The way of constant repentance for your sins?

24:55 That's part of that way. The second aspect of that way is this. It's the way of constant faith in Jesus Christ. Christ is everything to every good man or woman who is in the way of the righteous.

25:10 They can all say in principle with St. Paul in Philippians 1.21, for to me to live is Christ. Again, they can say with Paul in Philippians 1.21,

25:20 Philippians chapter 3, that I may be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but the righteousness which is by the faith of Jesus Christ. The way of good men is the way of looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of their faith. The way of a good man is not simply looking to Christ once in a while to fill up his own lacks and his own areas where he hasn't quite made it, but it's looking constantly to Him who said, as we read, His words this morning, without me ye can do nothing. That's the way of a good man.

25:59 Constant repentance for his sins. Constantly looking in faith to Christ for forgiveness, for strength, for grace, for wisdom, for all that he needs. For he knows that without Him he can do nothing, but he knows with Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. Thirdly, the way of the righteous, the way of good men, is the way of obedience to Jesus Christ.

26:29 Listen to the words of Jesus in John chapter 10. He said, I know my sheep and they follow me. They follow me. That's the mark of a man who is in the way of good men.

26:45 Obedience to Christ. Again, Jesus said in John 15, 14, Hear my friends, if ye do, whatsoever I command you. He that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 1 John 2, 4.

27:01 This means that in my home life, if I'm in the way of good men, I take seriously what Christ says about the home. If I'm a young person, and I'm in the way of good men, I take seriously what Jesus says. Honor thy father and thy mother. Children, obey your parents in the Lord.

27:19 I take that seriously.

27:22 If I don't take it seriously, I'm not in the way of good men, for it's the way of serious obedience to Christ. If I'm a wife, I take seriously what it says. Wives, be subject to your husbands in everything. As the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their husbands.

27:37 I'm not giving my opinion. I'm quoting Ephesians chapter 5. The only reason I'm not turning these verses is we'd be all night flipping through our Bibles. But I'm not giving my opinions.

27:47 I'm quoting from the Scriptures. And those who are in the way of good men, they take that seriously. Husbands who are in the way of good men, they take seriously what Jesus says. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.

28:03 Husbands, nourish and cherish your wives as Christ cherishes the church. You take that seriously. You take seriously what he says in his word about your domestic responsibilities. You take seriously what he says about your civil responsibilities.

28:19 You submit to the powers that be, as Paul says in Romans 13, the powers that be are ordained of God. Peter says in 1 Peter 2 that we are to submit to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. You take that seriously. You don't have the attitude, whatever laws I don't like, I just act like they aren't there.

28:37 You're a serious citizen in obedience to the laws of the land. You take seriously what he says about your sphere of employment, giving proper honor to those over you, your foreman, your boss,

28:52 even the one that isn't so easy to get along with. For he says, servants, be obedient to your masters, even to the nasty ones, as well as to the good ones. If you're in a place of authority over others, you take seriously your responsibility not to lord it over them, but to remember that you have a master in heaven. I'm quoting from Ephesians now.

29:12 You see, the man who's in the way of good men takes the word of God seriously wherever the word of God touches him. Now, I didn't say he is perfectly implementing all it says, but he is...

29:25 He is seriously applying himself to whatever he knows it says. And he's seriously applying himself to find out more of what it says. Is that true of you? Is that true of you?

29:38 I'm not just preaching to hear my own voice tonight. I'll stand before God to give an account of this hour I've spent opening up the Scriptures, and I want to press upon your conscience. Am I describing you tonight? When I say, the way of a good man is the way of constant repentance for sin, when's the last time you were alone with God and poured out before Him the complaint of your heart about your own sin, your own pride, your own lust, your own envy, your own coldness of heart?

30:11 When was the last time God was witness to any true confession and repentance on your part?

30:18 When? Oh, well, it must...

30:21 When? Don't avoid the issue. Don't generalize. You get as specific with God tonight as God will be, as specific with you in the day of judgment.

30:32 When was the last time you were conscious of the runnings out of faith to Jesus Christ? Could you sing from the heart these hymns we've sung tonight? Thou, O Christ, art all I want, more than all in thee I find. Could you sing that right from your shoe tops?

30:53 Could you? Could you? Is there a living, present faith in Christ? Christ hangs, my helpless soul on thee.

31:05 The man who's in the way of good men, he can sing that from his shoe tops.

31:11 Do you take serious the will of Christ as found in the word of Christ? Those who are in the way of good men, their lifestyle, this is what it is, characterized by repentance, by faith, by obedience, and fourthly, it's always a way of service to and confession of Christ in word and in word. Word and deed. Jesus said, Whosoever shall confess me before four men, him will I confess before my Father which is in heaven.

31:42 Jesus said again in Matthew 5, Ye are the light of the world, ye are the salt of the earth, you're a city set upon a hill. There's no such thing as a silent Christian.

31:53 If you're in the way of good men, your life is constantly bearing light in the midst of darkness. The way you react in that shop, in that school, in that home, in the tensions of the domestic sphere is constantly sending out the light of the grace of God in your life. And then as opportunities are afforded, you will open your mouth and speak boldly. And when you take the way of good men, whether you think of Abraham, whether you think of Isaac, Jacob, Jeremiah, Elijah, Paul, Peter, all of these four things were characteristic of the life of those men.

32:36 Many things different about their total lifestyle. Jeremiah went through tremendous opposition and persecution, even wallowed around in a filthy pit until he felt he would die. Isaiah had the privileges of the life of the court under the shadow of the throne of King Uzziah. They had much different in their station in life, but this they had in common.

33:02 They walked in a way of repentance. You listen to Jeremiah, his repentance. Listen to Isaiah's. Woe is me, I'm undone.

33:11 They lived in a way of faith in Christ. Isaiah sees him as the high and lofty one. He sees him as the suffering serpent of Jehovah. He sees him in his glory.

33:23 Jeremiah sees him as the branch, as the great mediator of the new covenant. But they both lived in a way of faith in Christ. They both lived in a way of obedience to Christ. They both lived in a way of service and confession of Christ.

How to Enter the Way of Good Men

33:38 And the way of good men is always characterized by those four irreducible elements. Now the third question we've got to ask about that way as we analyze it. Not only who are the good men who are in it, what is that way, what constitutes it, but how did they get into it? He says to his son, if you'll receive these words, you may then walk in the way of good men and keep the path of the righteous.

34:06 How did you walk in the way of the righteous? How did they get into that way? The same way Solomon says to his son that he'll get into it when the word of God effectually enters his heart and lays hold of his life. Notice the connection now, verses 10 and 11.

34:21 For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul. Verse 20, that thou mayest walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous. It was the word of God which did that. Mighty work in Abraham, in Isaac, in Paul, in Peter that broke the shackles of sin, brought them to see themselves undone and helpless, brought them to see the mercy of God in Christ and it's the only way any man gets into the path of good men.

34:55 That's why the scripture says in 1 Peter 1, 23 that we are born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever. James says it this way in James 1, 18 of his own will begat he us by the word of truth. Romans 10, 17 Faith cometh by hearing hearing by the word of God. How did they get into that way?

35:23 Well, some may have had the influence of Christian nurture and training. Some may have had the influence of a lot of preaching and teaching but whether there was much or little of this one thing was true. It was the word of God coming into the heart with power that brought them into the way of good men. And I say to everyone here tonight if you're not in that way there's only one way to get into it.

35:49 It is the way of taking seriously the word of the living God. That word which I've quoted to you in abundance tonight. That word which says you by nature are undone and such a foul depraved thing that almighty God will shut you out of His presence forever unless your sins are covered by a power outside of yourself. The God who says to you your nature is so polluted and so twisted you'd be out of place in heaven unless that nature is renovated and that's what the Bible means by the new birth.

36:28 Jesus said except a man be born again he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. There must be the impartation of new life.

36:37 You can't born to yourself. God must impart that life and how does it come? Through the word of God. Being born again by the word of God.

36:50 And so the way they got into that path of good men is the way that you and I must get into it. Well, having described and defined the way of good men now will you consider with me in the second place and briefly the necessity of entering upon that way.

The Necessity of Entering This Way: Inseparable Destiny

37:10 I have not held that way before you simply as a possible option among many but I've held it before you and now I want to press upon you the urgency and necessity of entering that way. When you read this second chapter you realize that Solomon is not saying to his son now look son there are a lot of possibilities of how to make it in life and how to be prepared not only for life but for eternity and I just happen to be giving you one of those options. You can't find that spirit in this chapter. There's a note of urgency a note of entreaty a note of pleading a note of reasoned and impassioned argument in this chapter and the necessity of entering the way

37:55 of good men is rooted in two fundamental facts and here they are. Fact number one the inseparable connection between the way in which we walk and the destiny in which we will share. There is an inseparable relationship between the way in which we walk and the destiny in which we will share. In other words there is a direct relationship between the road I take and the destination at which I arrive.

38:28 Suppose we were to go out here tonight and some fellow's riding around here doesn't seem to be knowing what he's doing where he's going we say mister what's where you're heading? Well he said I'm going to New York that's my destination. Well we said what road are you taking? He said I'm not fussy about roads just riding around.

38:45 I said wait a minute Mac did you tell me oh yeah my destination I'm going to New York I want to end up in New York. Well may I help you and tell you the best road? No man I'm not concerned about I'm just riding around.

38:59 You'd say the guy was drunk or crazy.

39:03 What's wrong with him? He is trying to operate on the basis of separating destination from way.

39:11 The way determines your destination and as sure as you sit in that pew tonight you get on route 80 going east and get in the express lane and you're going to end up at the George Washington Bridge. The way determines your destiny.

39:29 What's true in getting to New York is true in getting to heaven or hell. The way you're on determines your destiny and more fools are running around in life with no concern about the way to heaven and yet saying oh well I hope when I die everything will be alright I'm going to end up in New York I'm going to end up in heaven.

39:50 You say to them but my friend what's the basis of hoping you're going to end up in heaven? Oh well just kind of hoping may I show you oh no no I'm not much for religion I'm not much for the Bible I'm not much everything's going to turn out alright I'm going to get there even though I don't care a hoot about the way.

40:10 God have mercy on such terrible blindness and ignorance. The Bible makes an inseparable relationship between the destiny a man shares and the way upon which he walks. Listen to the words of Christ. Now I do want you to turn to them in your Bible so you can see them as well as hear them.

40:30 Matthew chapter 7 because this point is so fundamental to all of life. Jesus said in Matthew 7 13 Entry in by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many are they that enter in thereby for narrow is the gate and straighten the way that leadeth unto life and few are they that find it. See what our Lord is saying? There is an inseparable

41:14 relationship between the gate the way and the destiny of men. And he says if you go in at the broad gate and are found upon the broad road you have no way no choice about your destiny it is inevitable it leads to destruction your choice was made when you entered the gate and are upon the way now there is no option you end up in destruction. Destruction does never mean annihilation in the scriptures. It is the same Greek word that is used of the world being destroyed by the flood in Noah's day the world was not annihilated it was inundated by the flood

41:59 the tokens of divine judgment and that is what destruction is. To be inundated by the tokens of divine judgment that is destruction.

42:10 The man who says oh well I am on the broad road but I still hope it will end up in life that man is a fool just as much as the man who is just wandering around Essex County hoping he is going to end up in New York. There is a remote possibility he just might hit the right road his chances are much better than the poor fool who says oh well I am not concerned about God's way I just feel everything will be alright and I will end up in heaven. Jesus said no an inseparable relationship between the way you walk and the destiny to which you will arrive. The same is true with heaven there is but one path to heaven that is the narrow path and there is one way to get on that path the narrow gate

42:54 and nobody gets to heaven unless they have come through the gate and entered the way. Look how Christ ties them together verse 14 narrow is the gate straightened is the way that leadeth unto life that is the destiny life eternal life heaven the presence of God and where is it? It is the end of the way and how is the way entered? By the gate and what is the gate?

43:21 The gate is that which Abraham experienced Moses experienced David experienced Paul experienced Peter experienced St. Augustine experienced Luther experienced Calvin experienced Wesley experienced Whitfield experienced and blessed be God that I have experienced and many of you have experienced is the way in which we receive those bitter things God said against us and we said oh God tis true tis true I'm the sinner I'm the guilty one I'm the undone one I'm the unclean one and then we accepted those sweet things he said about the Savior he's the mighty one he's the holy one

44:05 he's the gracious one he's the one mighty to save and we entered that gate of conversion in repentance turning from our sin embracing the Savior in faith and blessed be God we're found upon the way and in all humility fully conscious of our shortcomings we count Abraham Isaac Paul Jacob and Moses to be our brothers in the faith and Miriam and the other saintly women as our sisters in the faith you see the necessity of entering that way is based upon this inseparable connection between the way and the destiny

The Necessity of Entering This Way: Inescapable Alternative

44:49 that we will share and then secondly and this flows out of it the inescapable alternative to the way of good men and the destiny of good men is the way of God and the destiny of good men is the way of God the way of sin and of hell and there's no third Solomon says to his son oh my son receive my words that you may enter into the path of good men for Solomon knew there was only one other path and that was the path described by our Lord as the broad road that leads to destruction David knew of only two paths he described them in the first psalm he says in the last verse of that psalm the Lord knoweth the way of good men and the way of the righteous

45:34 but the way of the ungodly shall perish there is no neutral ground and just as I may say with accuracy everyone in this building is either male or female from the youngest to the oldest and there's nobody in between I may say everyone in this building is on the way that leads to life or in the way that leads to destruction and there is no third way everyone in this building is one of you and I don't need to be a prophet I don't need to be omniscient to declare on the basis of the word of God every one of you in this building from the youngest to the oldest from the oldest member of this church

46:18 to the newest visitor there is no exception starting with the preacher moving right through every bench here tonight every one of us the inescapable alternative to the way of good men is the way of evil men which leads unto destruction so I say I urge you to enter into the way of good men because the only other alternative is the way of evil of sin and of death so much for describing and defining the way of good men secondly we've considered the necessity of entering the way of good men now I want to conclude with several observations about the way of good men

True Godliness: Both Positive and Negative

47:03 first of all this statement of Solomon shows us that true godliness is both a positive and a negative thing remember what he had said in the previous verses he says to his son my son if these words enter into your heart and into your spirit to preserve you and keep you they'll do three things deliver you from the evil man negative deliver you from the evil woman positive they will enable you to walk in the way of good men I mean negative this is positive two negatives one positive showing us that true godliness has both evil and positive both negative and positive duties

47:46 and I want to pause to emphasize this because we've got as usual in the church today we've got error on the left hand and the right you have modern evangelism that tries to be all positive and it says to people do you want life with a capital L and beautiful purple sequins on the L and neon lights framing it then come to dreams and it's so there's nothing about cutting off right hands plucking out right eyes nothing said about taking up crosses nothing said about hardship nothing said about the sorrow of division where Jesus said I came not to send peace but a sword nothing said about the disciplines of discipleship

48:30 all positive they shouldn't have turned him away by being negative well when Solomon talks to his son he doesn't give him any impression it's all positive he says my son if you receive these words of saving and salvation sanctifying wisdom. It will do some negative things. It'll keep you from evil. It'll keep you from evil men and evil women. But my son, that's not enough. It will guide you into

48:53 the positive enactment of righteousness. Then we have, on the other hand, modern fundamentalism, which so often is all negative. If you don't do this and don't do that and don't do this and don't do this and don't do the other, then that's godliness. You see, the servant who lays home and lies home all day and sleeps, and when the master comes and boots him out of bed and stands up and says, oh, but master, I haven't done any evil today. You see, it's

49:20 not enough that he hasn't done any evil. The master wants to know what good he's produced. And it's not enough that we are kept in the way of evil men. Not enough that we are kept in the way of evil women. We must be found walking in the way of good men. We must be

49:35 worthy companions of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Paul, and Peter. But we're found walking unholy and unreservedly engaged in the work of positive obedience to the revealed will of God. And if you and I are rightly reading the word of God and absorbing divine wisdom into our spirits, this is the test. We will increasingly see all the things we cannot do and increasingly understand and commit ourselves to all the things we must.

Maintaining the Way: Constant Exposure to God's Word

50:09 And those too will grow together. For true godliness is both negative and positive. And then last of all, this passage shows us that the only way to enter in and to stay within the path of good men is the way of constant prayerful exposure to the word of God.

50:33 For how is it that Solomon's son is to walk in the way of good men and keep the paths of the righteous? How is it that he is to be kept from the evil man and the evil woman? We go back to the whole theme of the chapter. If thou wilt receive my words, lay up my commandments with thee, apply thy heart to understanding, cry out for discernment, then, he says, wisdom will enter to thy heart, knowledge will be pleasant to thy soul, discretion shall watch over thee, understanding shall keep thee, to deliver thee, to deliver thee, to help you to walk.

51:13 Oh, dear children of God, I hope you don't get weary of this emphasis that comes from this pulpit again and again. And the reason it comes from this pulpit is because it's the emphasis of the Bible. And if I'm expounding the Bible, it must come again and again. How is it that we are brought into and maintain ourselves within the path of good men?

51:33 By means of the word of God, prayerfully, carefully encountered and studied and listened to and absorbed into the very fiber of our being. That's why Paul could say, and I ask you to turn to this passage in closing, 2 Timothy chapter 3, where he describes this great function of divine wisdom, the holy scriptures in the life of Timothy. He says in verse 14 of 2 Timothy 3, But abide thou in the things which thou hast learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them,

52:14 and that from a babe thou hast known the philosophies of the great men, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. Is that what he says?

52:26 From a babe thou hast known the opinions of the great religious leaders, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation. That isn't what he says. He says from a babe thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. What's the only thing?

52:52 The only thing that will give you heavenly wisdom, to put you in the way of good men, it's the scriptures, my friend.

53:03 Approach not with the mind of a critic, but with the mind of a humble disciple to hear what the Lord God will say. And if you won't take the Bible seriously, there's no hope for you. You'll be damned in your indifference. And I say that tenderly but forcefully tonight.

53:21 If you aren't concerned enough to open up the page of this book and begin to scour those pages, pages for light and direction on the great issues of eternity. Who is God? Who am I? What is sin?

53:34 How can sin be forgiven? My friend, if you're content to kick your feet up and waste hour after hour watching your television while the Bible sits there in the bookstand, unopened, it serves you right if you're damned in your indifference.

53:51 When God has been pleased to give this revelation, in His providence He's brought you into a land where you've been taught to read, and the Scriptures are translated into your own tongue, when whole civilizations have risen and fallen into oblivion and have never seen one page of this book. If God in mercy has brought the light of the Gospel through the Scriptures into your hands, woe be unto you if you willfully neglect it. Woe be unto you children in Christian homes. Woe be unto you children if you despise and neglect the Scriptures.

54:30 It serves you right. If you're damned in your ignorance, for it's willful ignorance, vicious, wicked, willful ignorance of the only means by which we get into the way of good men. That's not the only purpose of Scripture. Read on.

54:49 All Scripture is inspired of God, which is the proper reading, and is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. What does a man need to be furnished completely unto every good work? Does he need visions? Does he need tongues?

55:19 Does he need ecstasy? Does he need prophecy? Does he need some sparkling, scintillating, charismatic experience? No.

55:28 He just needs to have the dullness taken from his eyes and the laziness taken from his spirit to investigate and understand. To understand and receive what God has said in Holy Scripture. If the Scriptures are sufficient to make a man furnished completely unto every good work, nothing more is needed.

55:49 Nothing more is needed. So how are you going to get into the way of good men? By the Scriptures. They will make you wise to salvation.

55:58 You can run around and hear preachers, including this one, and do nothing but get more and more confused. You get on your knees and you open up the Bible and you cry out, Oh God, show me the truth within the pages of your Word.

56:15 The Scripture says, If any man will to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. The entrance of thy Word giveth light. It giveth understanding to the sinner. And then as a child of God, if you want to be kept in the way of good men, how is it to be done?

56:30 If thou wilt incline thine ears to the words of wisdom, apply thy heart to knowledge, cry out after discernment, seek it as for hid treasure, get rid of your laziness,

56:41 hoping you can just thread a few, verses of the Bible through your eyes when you're half asleep, and then you wonder why it doesn't have much sanctifying effect on you. You get serious about the Word of God and serious about absorbing His truth. And God says in this way, you having been brought into the way of good men through the power of the Word will be continually furnished along the way as you become companion of the good men of Holy Scripture. This, I say, is the relationship of the Word of God and the way of holiness.

Urgent Call to Enter the Way of Good Men

57:20 Are you in that way tonight? Are you? Are you in that way? Are you?

57:29 If not, then you're in the way to destruction, my dear friend. If Almighty God sovereignly pleases to snuff out your life, you've had it. We're dealing with eternal issues. It's the only reason I've sought to pour myself into the preaching of the Word.

57:51 It's not because I have nothing else to do, nowhere else to spend my energies. It's because these things are not professional issues with me. They're matters of life and death because God's revealed them in the Word. If you go out of this place like that poor man driving around the streets and say, well, I still think everything will be all right.

58:10 I'm going up in New York. If you're indifferent to the only way that leads to heaven, the way of good men, and if you're indifferent to how to get into that way and understand what a good man is biblically,

58:23 you end up in that day on the wrong side of the fence and hear those words depart from me. I never knew you. These hands will be clear of your blood because you've been spoken to plainly and clearly from the Word of God tonight. Oh, may God help you to receive His Word, seek His Son, and find that God is indeed the God who is true to His promise, spoken in the very lips of His Son.

58:51 I am.