What Is Written 11-Apr-99: The Old Paths

As we engage in our study this morning, let’s read the captivating appeal of Jeremiah in Jer. 6:16: “Thus says the LORD: stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.” When Jeremiah spoke these words, the nation of Judah was in the doorway of captivity. The people of God had left him to embrace idolatry. This great prophet was called by God to prophesy doom and impending destruction upon this rebellious people. His work would last nearly fifty years. In Jer. 3:6 Jeremiah says, “The LORD said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: have you seen what backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there played the harlot.” God considered religious apostasy to be prostitution. He considered religious apostasy to be adultery. These people had abandoned God and the covenant made with him in order to worship and serve the pagan gods of the surrounding nations. Jeremiah pleaded with the people to return to God or else they would suffer destruction at the hands of the wicked and powerful Babylonian empire. Sadly, the people resisted God and Jeremiah lived to see the holy city of Jerusalem besieged and the people taken into captivity. Let’s return to the appeal of God in Jer. 6:16. The prophet says, “Thus says the LORD: stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.” Do you notice anything peculiar about this request of God? For several centuries the people had been progressive. They were evolving (or changing) to meet the times. They no longer were the nomadic people who traveled with Abraham from grazing land to grazing land. They no longer wandered through the wilderness with Moses with a tabernacle as the center of worship. Oh, sure, they had enjoyed better times. They were not the powerful and wealthy people they had been under the reign of David and Solomon, but they were still able to be players in shaping the world. Seeking to appease their enemies as well as to impress their allies, Judah had become very pragmatic. They not only respected the diversity of the religious practices of their neighbors, but they wholeheartedly began endorsing and eventually serving the idols of people like the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Jebusites. God was so displeased with this that he said if something isn’t done immediately they would suffer destruction and captivity. And what God wanted done is spelled out in Jer. 6:16 when he said, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.” What is unusual about this is God says before going forward — look back. In order to avoid the devastation that was forecast they had to seek the old paths. God said these old paths compose the good way, and it is in this good way (these old paths) that the people of God were to walk. What did Jeremiah have in mind by the old paths? These were the law given by Moses at Sinai and the book of the covenant in which the people were to live in order to receive blessings from God. When God fulfilled the promise he made with Abraham to give the people a land in which to live, he also gave them a dire warning. He said in Deut. 6:12–15:

Beware, lest you forget the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. You shall fear the LORD your God and serve him, and shall take oaths in his name. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are all around you (for the LORD your God is a jealous God among you), lest the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.

God had made it known to the people that in order for them to continue to live in this promised land. They must remain faithful to him. They must never forget their covenant. They were not to forsake the law of Moses. If they did, then they would be destroyed and removed from the land. However, they failed to heed the warning when they entered the land. They grew self-satisfied and immoral. They abandoned God to follow idols of the people in the land. The only hope they had of avoiding sure destruction was to return to the old paths, which was the book of God.

Let me ask you this morning: Don’t you think it’s time we begin to heed the advice offered by Jeremiah? After all, this is the same exhortation given in the New Testament by the apostle Paul. He said in 2 Thess. 2:15, “Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle.” Both Jeremiah and Paul are appealing for people to abide within the confines of the revealed will of God. Jeremiah was speaking to the people of God during the time when the Old Testament was binding. Paul, on the other hand, is speaking to those of us who live during the time when the New Testament of Christ is binding. Both are focusing upon divine authority. This is because throughout Bible history men have only pleased God by living within his revealed will. Adam and Eve did not have the liberty to disregard the Old Paths given to them. This was true of Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It was true of David and Solomon. It was true of those living during the days of Jeremiah and it is true today. We must, in order to be pleasing to God, walk (or live) in the old paths. Now, for the remaining time we have together this morning, let’s return to Jer. 6:16 to consider two things about the statement.

First, let’s read the text again. Jer. 6:16 says, “Thus says the LORD: stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it.” If God says to walk in the old paths, then this tells us that there must be new paths available upon which one might walk. Judah, through her progressive ways, had left the old and was walking in the new paths of idolatry. Judah was playing the harlot and committing spiritual adultery by walking upon these new paths. The new paths taken by the people of Judah were taking them away from God and into captivity. If I let my imagination begin to wander, I believe I can hear what modern denominational preachers might have said to Jeremiah. Remember that Jeremiah was preaching the need to return to the old paths. If he had encountered some of the preachers living today, he might have been told, “Jeremiah, what is wrong with you? You are narrow-minded and bigoted. Don’t you know that we can’t be so exclusive in our preaching? You leagalists are all alike. You are so fanatical, demanding that everyone agrees with you.” I can just hear modern denominational preachers telling Jeremiah, “Listen friend, we are all heading the same way, we are just on different roads (or paths). You preach the way that seems best to you, and we will preach the ways that seem best to us.” Now, I ask you ladies a gentlemen, would God have been pleased with such responses then? You and I both know that God meant what he said. There were the old paths and then there were the new. And the people were not at liberty to choose the paths of their choice. They had to be found upon the old paths of God and not the new in order to avoid destruction. If some of these weak-spined preachers living today were around during the time of Jeremiah, they would have moaned and groaned and complained that Jeremiah was misguided. I know this is so because today men act as though there is no such thing as a false path. Today preachers act as though there is no such thing as a false teacher. Judah had a multitude of false prophets teaching false paths or false ways and in 1999 we have an abundance of false teachers leading men and women upon paths of damnation. Peter wrote in 2 Pet. 2:1-2:

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways.

Today, whenever a preacher pleads for men and women to walk in the old paths of biblical authority, people react like there is no such thing as a false or wrong way. Yet Peter said that false teachers will bring not salvation, but destruction. He said that many will be influenced to follow the paths upon which these false teachers walk. Let me say to you, don’t believe those who tell you that it doesn’t matter what you believe or what you do. Every religious path that is pointed out to you is not the way you should be going. Every religious path that is before you does not lead to heaven — many lead to perdition. Believers in the Bible must understand that everyone who claims to preach the Bible does not teach the truth. Jesus said in Matt. 24:11, “Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.” If what you are being taught or what you have believed is not found in the Bible, then it is a new path that you must abandon immediately. To be pleasing to God we must remain in that which is old and divine. We must remain within the confines of Holy Scripture. Paul said in Col. 3:17, “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” The phrase “the name of the Lord Jesus” means by his authority. That is, everything we teach and practice must first be authorized by Jesus. To be authorized by Christ is to be in the New Testament.

Men have always been proud of their progressive ways. Advertisers are always promoting products that are new and improved. We don’t want a house that is designed and decorated like the seventies. We don’t want telephones that have rotary dials. We want what is new and progressive. And this is precisely how many want their religion. Therefore, many people are designing and inventing new ways to serve God — ways that are not found within the scriptures, and in doing this many have left the old paths. For example, today we are hearing about new ways of salvation that are not discussed within the Bible. Some new ways of salvation include asking Jesus to come into your heart. If you attend an average evangelistic denominational service you are likely to hear the minister say, “If you want to be saved just ask Jesus to come into your heart. He is waiting for your invitation — he is standing at the door of your heart, won’t you just ask him to come into your heart and cleanse you of your sins.” There is not one verse in the Bible that even suggests one is saved by asking Jesus into one’s heart. The Bible records Jesus as saying, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.” This is the old path of salvation. Belief plus baptism equals salvation. These are the words of Jesus in Mk. 16:16. To those of you who have been told to ask Jesus to come into your hearts I say, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is.” This idea of asking Jesus to come into one’s heart is a new way of salvation, but the old path is belief and baptism.

Another new path or new way of salvation we are likely to hear today is salvation by “praying through.” Let me explain that phrase for those of you who might not be familiar with what I am saying. Several years ago I attended a Nazarene church, and while there I wanted to be saved. I was told by the minister of that denomination that salvation came by going to the altar (answering an altar call) and praying until I prayed through to God and received the forgiveness of my sins. One prays through by begging and pleading with God until he finally gets through and God relents and pardons him. I am sure that many in this audience have been told that salvation comes by way of praying through or by some other similar means. Whether it’s the bygone mourner’s bench of Baptist churches or an upscale altar, these are ways that are new and not according to the Scriptures. What is needed today is for men with the mettle of Jeremiah demanding that we go back to the old paths of God’s Word for salvation. In Acts chapter 2 we are able to document the means by which about 3000 were saved in Jerusalem. After giving a rundown of Old Testament prophecies pointing to the day of salvation that would dawn upon the earth, Peter, an apostle, proved that Jesus of Nazareth was the anointed savior that God intended to send into the world. Yet, in spite of the prophecies of scripture and in spite of the miracles Jesus performed proving his divinity, he was rejected and crucified by the very people who should have recognized him. The sermon of Peter concluded in verse 36 with this distressing accusation: “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” These people were guilty of sin. They were responsible for the most horrific murder ever committed — the murder of the divine son of the living God. What was their response? Verse 37 records their reaction. “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?” These men and women were wishing to be forgiven for the abhorrent sins of which they were guilty. They wished to be saved, so they asked these men of God what to do in order to be saved. Today they would be told, “Do nothing, God has done it all for you.” Or, most likely they would be told, “Just ask Jesus to come into your heart as your personal savior.” Now, while these sound logical and even good, they are not biblical and they are not what Peter said to the people who first ask what to do in order to be saved. Frankly, these are the new but not improved paths of salvation that have been created by men and not by God. Peter responded in verse 38 with, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This is the old path and it is the biblical path. Anything different is new and will not lead to salivation but to perdition. The Bible reminds us in Prov. 16:25, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Asking Jesus into one’s heart might seem right, and receiving Jesus as a personal savior might seem right, and praying through as a means of receiving salvation might seem right, but each is a new path. The end of each of these paths is death and not life.

Let’s return briefly to the passage in Jeremiah in order to lift a second thought. Jer. 6:16 says, “Thus says the LORD: stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.” The first point of our study was that if there is an old path providing rest for the soul, then there must be new paths that lead to destruction. There’s a second point in this study, which is that this passage reminds us that the old can be found. Notice the Lord says see the old path, ask for the old path, walk in the old path, and find rest for your soul in the old path. Five years after Jeremiah was called to preach to this rebellious people, the book of the law of God was found in the temple. This would have been in the eighteenth year of King Josiah’s reign in Judah. When the Bible was discovered, Josiah began to institute religious reforms intended to stamp out idolatry. However, the reforms were too little and too late. The die had been cast and the people were not willing to return to God. The rest of Jer. 6:16 says this about their willingness, or perhaps I should say unwillingness, to heed the words of God: “But they said, we will not walk in it.” Notice this rebellious attitude! God said they must see the law, seek the law and walk within the law in order to avert destruction, but they said, we will not walk in it. It wasn’t a matter of being unable to find the law, but it was a matter of being unwilling to walk within the precepts of God’s will. Not long after this ominous warning, the people were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian empire. Most of the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem were forcibly removed from their homes and transported to a region around the Chebar River southeast of the city of Babylon, which would be in modern day Iraq. After being there for nearly seventy years, the citizens of Jerusalem were allowed to return to their homes. After rebuilding their destroyed city, which would have included the temple and the walls around the city, they saw their need to return to the law of God. After all, it was because they had abandoned God’s word that they were taken captive in the first place. In Neh. 8:8 we read about these people finally getting down to business in seeking the old paths: “So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.” And they did not just read it and understand it, they walked in it. That is, they obeyed precisely what it said to do. Neh. 8:18 concludes with this statement: “And they kept the feast seven days; and on the eighth day there was a sacred assembly, according to the prescribed manner.”

I’ve said all that in order to drive home this point. It is possible to seek and find the old paths upon which God demands that we walk. The Israelites finally decided to follow the words of God and begin to worship him according to the prescribed manner. I refuse to accept what I am hearing today. I categorically reject the unscriptural position that so many are taking today, and that is, “We can’t do back to doing things like they were done in the New Testament.” My question is why not? If we can’t, then it is because the old paths cannot be found. If we cannot build our faith and our practices upon the teaching of the New Testament then it must be because the Bible is incapable of directing us. It must mean there is no such thing as a prescribed manner. These self-ordained scholars who wish to convince you they know more than God does about certain things will bellow long and loud that if we insist on returning to the paths of the Bible then this means we must return to the catacombs and Roman coliseums. All these people are doing when they say this is showing their disregard for the teaching of God. Those people who returned from Babylonian captivity found the Bible, opened it and lived according to the prescribed manner. They did not have to return to wandering in the wilderness like their ancestors were doing when they first received the law. They did not have to return to Egyptian captivity where their forefathers were when God called Moses. These people did not have return to the days of a monarch in order to return to the old paths. They just needed to apply the teaching of God to their life and their worship. Times might be different today. We might drive to a place of worship in a car instead of walking, but our worship is to be the same. Our songs may be sung in English instead of koine Greek, but they are to be sung. Frankly, the reason men and women cannot find the old paths isn’t because of coliseums and catacombs but because they have no idea how to establish Bible authority, and they don’t want to know. The inability to establish Bible authority is a problem not limited to denominational preachers. It is something that many claiming to be New Testament Christians don’t have the foggiest notion how to do. Some look at the Bible as a book of suggestions and not as a guide for all that we do in religion. These people treat the Bible as storybook, but not a book to be strictly followed. Then there are those who believe that before something is authorized that there must be a specific example for it. These demand a biblical example for songbooks or overhead projectors. These demand examples for erecting church buildings. Neither group understands how to seek the old paths. Both groups struggle with how to establish Bible authority. You and I can find the old paths if we remain logical in our search.

There are three ways that we are taught anything — including from the Bible. One is by a direct command or statement. That is, by being told what is expected of us. Such as Lk. 22:19, which says, “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, this is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” A second means we can be instructed (and by which the Bible authorizes) is by an approved example. In Acts 20:7 we find an approved example of complying with the direct command: “On the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread.” Third, we can learn by reaching an unavoidable conclusion. An unavoidable conclusion is a deduction that must be reached. The Traders Point Church of Christ observes the Lord’s Supper every Sunday. We do this because, considering Lk. 22:19 and Acts 20:7, communion is a command, which the early church obeyed on the first day of the week. And since each week has a first day, the unavoidable conclusion is: Communion is to be observed each first day of every week.

Reject the new and accept the old paths. Return to the Bible for all that is believed and practiced in religion. If you can’t find your practice authorized by the Bible, then have the courage to reject it, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls.