A few years ago one of my son’s favorite TV shows was “Man vs. Wild”. It featured a guy named Bear Grylls and it was a sort of reality show where this man would be dropped off in an isolated area carrying a knife, a water bottle, some flint (to start a campfire), a waterproof bag, a multi-purpose tool, and even a Bible. Then he would make his way back to civilization.
One of the episodes that caught my attention was when he was dropped off on top of a mountain and had to make his way down to the valley. He told the viewers that one of the things you had to be aware of was that you had to be careful what route you took going DOWN the mountain, because once in a while you might take a likely path and end up in a place you couldn’t get out of. Then you’d be TRAPPED on the mountain with no way out… and perhaps no one to find you. And you’d DIE THERE.
The Bible tells us: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death.” (Proverbs 14:12) In fact, the Bible says that several times.
And now here in our text today, God tells us to: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and WALK IN IT. And find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16
So God says we need to LOOK for the ancient paths ASK for them! And then WALK in that path. but where are these ancient paths? How do we find them?
Well the ancient path IS THE PATH where God is! The prophet Micah 6:8 said it this way: “What does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? (NKJV)
FIND THE PATH… AND WALK WITH GOD!
In the Bible there were several men in Scripture that walked with God. There was Enoch (Genesis 5:24); Noah (Genesis 6:9); Abraham (Genesis 17:1; Romans 4:12); Isaac (Genesis 48:15); and David (I Kings 9:4). These men all walked with God. They all spent time with Him.
Now, why should we want to do that? Why should we want to spend time walking with God? Well, one reason is that we live in an evil world. Ephesians 5:15-17 tells us “Look carefully HOW YOU WALK, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”
You see, we live in an evil world and we’re called to be careful how we walk because we were saved to challenge that evil world. We’ve called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But wow do we challenge the evil of this world? Well… we walk with God, and the more time we spend walking with God, the more we’ll start thinking like Him.
Now - this isn’t rocket science… it’s very simple. You can tell if you’ve been spending time with God if you start acting/thinking more… like God does.
James 3:17 tells us “the wisdom that comes from heaven (from God) is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.
And how we conduct ourselves will impact the world around us. We live in an evil world - we don’t live in a pure world… so we need to be pure. We don’t live in a peaceful world… so we need to be peacemakers. We don’t live in a considerate world… so we should be considerate. People don’t like to submit to others… so we are called submissive. And lots of folks aren’t merciful and don’t do much good … so God wants US to be merciful and bear good fruit.
WE SHOULD BE THE MODEL OF WHAT IT MEANS TO WALK WITH GOD
ILLUS: There’s an Atheist named Tom Holland who wrote a book called “Dominion.” In his book Holland noted that he realized something about the ancient world. Ancient people were cruel and selfish. They commonly killed their children. For example, the Spartans routinely murdered their “imperfect” children. They and many other cultures treated their slaves as a source of physical pleasure. And the poor and the weak in the ancient world had no rights. AND THAT’S JUST HOW THINGS WERE.
So, how did we get from there to here? How did our culture change so dramatically? Well Holland wrote that it was Christianity that transformed society. Christianity demanded that men control themselves and Christianity prohibited all forms of rape. Christianity revolutionized sex and marriage and confined sexuality to be within the marriage of a male and female. In addition, Christianity elevated women far above what the ancient cultures did. In short, Christians stood in the path of the darkness of this world - and they did that because they chose to walk with God.
But why? Why did Christians take such a hard stand on morality? Well… because that was what was preached to them. Paul wrote in I Corinthians 6:9-10 “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”
Now, was that a new revelation to the church there? Had they not heard about this before? Well of course they’d heard about it before. When Paul began to preach in Corinth that’s part of what he told them. He told the crowds… I’m offering you heaven, but you need to turn from sin. And then he’d go down thru that list.
It is not unloving to tell people that committing adultery is a sin. It’s not unloving to declare that homosexuality is wrong. Nor is it wrong for us to tell people that being a thief, or greedy, or a drunkard or a swindler is immoral.
People need to know that you can’t get to heaven if you do those things! Seek out the ancient paths! Turn from wickedness and repent of your sins. Start walking with God - because there’s forgiveness there. And you can be forgiven of all that!!!
Here in I Corinthians 6:11 after Paul said what sins would rob them of heaven. He writes: “And such were some of you. (YOU were adulterers/homosexuals/thieves/ drunkards and swindlers) But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE TRAPPED IN THE THINGS THAT WOULD BRING YOU SHAME AND SELF-HATRED! God will forgive you!
So, one reason we should want to walk with God – confront an evil world. But another reason is – if we don’t walk with God is that after a while - the evil of this world will influence US.
I find it interesting that Jeremiah 6:16 says that after God advised people to seek out the ancient paths the people replied: We will NOT walk in it.’
Now, these were the ISRAELITES that were saying that. These were the PEOPLE OF GOD. And yet they literally refused to walk with God. Why would they do that? Well they refused because they were walking the wrong path, and they were walking it with the wrong people. 1 Corinthians 15:33 says: “Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."
Or as Psalm 1:1-5 (HCSB) says: “How happy is the man who does not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path of sinners, or join a group of mockers! Instead, his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. The wicked are not like this; instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not survive the judgment, and sinners will not be in the community of the righteous.”
In short, who you spend your time with will shape (or warp) your personality.
So God tells us: “walk with Me – spend time with Me.”
In the 23rd Psalm David wrote: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.”
Now catch this: “He leads me in PATHS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS for his name’s sake.”
God wants to walk with us and shape how we think. He wants to lead us in paths of righteousness because He LOVES us… and KNOWS what’s best for us. But we have to WANT Him to lead us in the right paths.
ILLUS: I just taught my grandson Benjamin how to ride his bike without training wheels. Initially he didn’t want to. He was afraid. In fact, a couple times his bike fell over and he hurt himself and cried. But he wanted to do it, and he wanted ME to teach him. He TRUSTED me to be right there beside him, and he TRUSTED me to give him the instruction he needed. And now he does it pretty well. In the same way, we must WANT God to lead us in paths of righteousness. And we must TRUST Him to be right there beside us and guide us.
So, we should want to walk with God because we live in an evil world, and we’ve been called to be the light in that world and the salt of the earth. Our very presence challenges the evil of this world.
AND we should want to walk with God so that the evil of this world doesn’t shape and warp us and turn us away from God.
And lastly we should want to walk with God because… well, let’s read Jeremiah 6:16 again: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, AND FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS….’”
You know, that sounds familiar. Jesus said something just about like that: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find REST FOR YOUR SOULS.” Matthew 11:28-29
CLOSE: Come to Jesus… and walk with Him. Spend time with Him and He will give you rest and peace in your life. And Jesus can do that because He is THE WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. No-one comes to the Father except through Him. John 14:6
Thomas à Kempis once said it this way: “Without the Way there is no going; Without the Truth there is no knowing; Without the Life there is no living.”
You see, with Jesus, you’ll GO to a place where you’ll find rest; and you’ll KNOW what it is to have peace; and you’ll HAVE A LIFE that is really worth living.
INVITATION” All you need to do is believe that He is who He said He was (the way the truth and the life); And believe that you can’t be good enough to be good enough to be saved; And to believe when you allow yourself to DIE to your sins, and be BURIED in the waters of baptism, you’ll rise up from the water an entirely NEW PERSON.
