Pathways

Okay. If you'd like to open your Bibles, we're going to be reading from Jeremiah 6 versus 16 to 23. This is page 7 64 in the church Bibles. This is what the lord says. Stand at the crossroads and look, ask the ancient paths ask where the good way is and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

But you said we will not walk in it. I appointed Watchman over you and said, listen to the sound of the trumpet, but you said, we will not listen. Therefore, here, you nations, You who are witnesses observe what will happen to them. Here you earth. I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes.

Because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law. What do I care about intents from Sheba or sweet calamus from a distant land? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable. Your sacrifices do not please me. Therefore, this is what the law says.

I will put obstacles before these people. Parents and children alike will stumble over them. Neighbors and friends will perish. This is what the lord says. Look, an army is coming from the land of the north.

A great nation is being stirred up from the ends of the earth. They are armed with bow and spear. They are cruel and shown no mercy. They sound like the roaring sea as they ride on their horses. They come like men in battle formation to attack you, daughter's iron.

And, let me add my welcome to you, particularly if you're new or visiting us. It's lovely to have you here this morning. My name's Philip Cooper. I'm 1 of the elders. Are here at Cornerstone.

Let's pray as we start. Father, we do thank you for this word as we, think about what was going on in Israel's day in the time of Jeremiah, help us not just to view it as history as, interesting, as, I don't know intellectually stimulating, some, old passage about, Israel, help us to see you speaking through it to hear what you have to say to us today that we might be more godly because of what we hear and change by in Jesus' name, how many? Well, as I said, I was going to talk about Donald Trump, together will make America great again. It's a brilliant political slogan by the Donald Trump campaign for the presidency We all heard it over and over again every tweet, every speech. It came out.

And it worked, didn't it? Because people voted for him. There was clever politics in a sense because it set a vision and we all need vision. We all need a goal. You know, we all don't we need to feel like we're progressing like we're on the path on on the way to somewhere.

We all need to feel that as individuals and often as a nation, and Trump's slogan about America and making America great again resonated with Americans. Now it was clever because he never said what it meant. So 1 person's view of what what constitutes America being great could be entirely different from another person's view and probably both of them were very different from what Donald Trump had in mind, but you don't know because he never gave any detail. So it didn't matter who was right or wrong. Everyone could continue to think that Donald Trump was going to deliver their own version in their heads of what would constitute America being great.

Now, why am I talking about this? Because you see, the campaign was exploiting something that is is a first world problem. You know, the countries of the USA, Europe, UK, and that is a complete lack of direction that's built up over years. Having abandoned if you like the mold compass of the past, we're all lost, morally, spiritually, relationally, financially, people are lost. They don't know where they're going.

So 1 of the reasons I think the millennial generation, the younger generation we talk about in their twenties now, have stopped buying stuff like houses and cars. I don't think they're less materialistic. I think they've just swapped that idol that many of us grew up with with a different 1. They based their whole existence on experiences. This meal, this weekend, this trip, this holiday.

See, when you have no vision, when you have no direction, you have to base your life on the here and now, don't you? It's not particularly new. It's not just the millennials. It's been moving that way for decades. President, Roosevelt who was president 19 33 to 19 45 in the US said this, we don't know where we're going.

He said, we don't know where we're going, but we're on our way. We live in a culture that's lost and directionless. But the good news is that the church, the people of god Christians, you and I, should be counter cultural. We should know which way we're going, what our direction of travel is to heaven. Yet sadly, so often we let the cultural confusion impact us rather than us influencing it.

And so it's easy for us to take the wrong way, the wrong path. Just as much as anyone else. This morning, we're continuing it's a little mini series. This is the last 1. Last week was the first 1.

A little mini series on pathways. Tom, Tom was talking last week on pathways, and I'll talk about that in a minute. But I want us this morning to think about the path we are now where you're headed and make sure you're on the right 1 I want us today to stop and think, imagine you're at a crossroads and you need to decide which road to take. That's what we're thinking about. See, culturally, we're definitely at a cost rate all the time we have to make this decision.

Our going to cherish the lives of the innocent, the unborn, or are we going to permit abortion on demand? Will we protect the lives of the vulnerable and the defenseless or will we allow involuntary euthanasia? Where we love the beauty of the world created by god and value people made in his image? Or will we gaze instead on images of sex and violence on our computers? But it's not just our culture that stands at a crossroads.

So do we, so does the church, and so did Israel in the Bible. Frequently. Standing in a crossroads means there's a choice of which way to go. And Israel through scripture often face that choice. If you know the book of Joshua near his death, Joshua called together the people of Israel at, I think it's pronounced Shechem.

And it, funnily enough, that's the same venue as Tom was talking about last week with Ray Boam. If you haven't heard that sermon, it'll be online. It's it's it's really worth a listen. And in chapter 24 of Joshua, Joshua makes a terrific speech to the nation at Chekem setting out the choice in front of the people, the crossroads, if you like, and saying which way are we going to go? Versus 14 or 15 of Joshua, he says this.

Now fear the lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the god's your ancestors worship beyond the river euphrates and in Egypt and serve the lord. But If serving the lord seems undesirable for you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. Whether the gods your ancestor served beyond the euphrates or the gods of the amorites in whose lands you are now living. But for me, as for me and my household, we will serve the lord.

And on that occasion, Joshua, the people followed Joshua's lead, they followed and chose to serve the lord. Joshua and subsequent verses after that makes it clear what the consequences would be of them saying 1 thing and doing another but they confirmed to him verse 24, same end of the book, and the people said to Joshua, we will serve the lord our god and obey him. So it goes on to say that on that day, Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at shechem, They reaffirmed and he affirmed to them the decrees and the laws laid down by god, and the book ends verse 31 Israel served the lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him. Israel was at a crossroads. At that point, and Joshua's speech, Joshua's example of serving the lord causes them just for a while, as was often the case in the old testament, just for a while at least to choose the right path.

To choose the right way and follow God. Now here in the book of Jeremiah, Israel once again stands at a crossroads. It has a choice. Do they follow god or not? See, the Babylon army stands ready to absolutely smash them.

They've been warned over and over again if you read the early chapters jeremiah by god, and they haven't listened. He sends Jeremiah to tell them what's gonna happen and what's interesting about this little passage we had read us. And chapter 6 particularly is it's he even gives them the battle plans of their enemy. So that they know exactly what's gonna happen because he's in control. Look at verse 6 of chapter 6.

This wasn't read to us. This is what the lord god almighty says. Cut down the trees and build siege ramps against Jerusalem. Is telling them exactly what's going to happen. This city must be punished.

It is filled with oppression as a well pours out its water, so she pours out her wickedness. Violence and destruction resounding her, her sickness and wounds are ever before me. Take warning Jerusalem or I will turn away from you and make your land desolate so that no 1 can live in it. And he goes on over the next few verses telling Israel that they haven't listened and a terrible judgment in the form of the Babylonians will come And finally, we get to verse 16, which is really what we're looking at this morning. This is what the lord says.

Stand at the crossroads and look. Ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is and walk in it and you will find rest for your souls. So even then in god's mercy, they have a chance. Of choosing the right path the right way.

They're standing at a crossroads. What to do now? Well, Jeremiah tells them in verse 16. God speaks through him to them and through this verse to us now. And the first thing they need to do is stand and look, stand at the crossroads and look when you get to a crossroads and you you have to choose a path, don't rush.

Don't race off in 1 direction based on instinct. So that later with regret, you think, well, well, it looked quicker. You know, it looked easier. It looked wider. Ever done that?

Ever raced off in your life in 1 direction, only to find it was the wrong 1. What looks easy is not a good enough reason for choosing which road to take. And god says here, stop stand, look. See, they're strong words, they're exhortations in the whole of this verse. Stand, see, ask, Take your time.

Consider what you're doing. There's nothing wrong in life in our lives, in our spiritual lives, in church life, in taking the time to stand and think to consider where have I come from? Where am I going? Is this the path that I thought I was on? Where do I want to get to?

And it is much better to conduct that sort of review for you personally, for us as a church when you're at a crossroads, isn't it? Rather than halfway down the road. So here at Cornerstone, the elders constantly review the direct we're going in. You know, what's working and what isn't? Why why is this ministry area seeing growth and that 1 isn't?

Where do we wanna be this time next year? How do we grow the church? Not for its own sake, but so that more people in this area are brought into the kingdom of god. And secondly, that those of us that come here that are Christians are taught well. Are encouraged at given opportunities to serve.

We're not content to stand still. It's why you're all enjoying the continuing tension as we look at the home group reshuffle. We don't wanna stand still. Just putting on the same events, the same program year after year so that you can bring your same friends. In effect, the elders regularly stand at crossroads and have to choose 1 way or the other, because spiritually speaking, standing still is not a good option.

Nevertheless, for a short while, we do do what Jeremiah says. We stop, take time to look, consider, pray. Carefully think about which path to choose. And similarly, as individuals, we should all take the time to stand and look and review where we are in our walk with god. It's a good time to do it, isn't it?

End of the summer, pretty much? New academic year starting. Isn't this a good time for you to do that? Well, Jeremiah says, stand look. Then he says, Ask for the ancient paths.

Ask for the ancient paths. Ask where the good way is and walk in it. Now this needs a little bit of explanation culturally. You see, if we're traveling around today, I don't know about you, when I got to Darby, where where my parents, so I'm lived, there was the m there was a sort of m 6 toll road thing put in that was amazing because nobody seemed to use it. So it was shiny and quick and all the lane markings were good, and we like that.

If no 1 else knows about it and it's new and shiny, a new road is best, we like new. We're gonna get on there. But in the day of Jeremiah when Israel was standing at the crossroads, listening to the prophet in those days, ancient paths were best, not new roads, traveling was difficult, traveling was dangerous, no roads, weirdly, no signposts from what I can gather. A lot of open space. So the best routes, the safest routes were the ones that were old and well trodden.

The ones where lots of people traveled down that path had done so before we're doing so again. And so you'd look for the ancient paths. They were the best ones. The well worn roots The word ancient here actually in the original language literally means eternal. So we're all immediately supposed to think about god.

The creator of heaven and earth, his paths, his roots. And Jeremiah, when he stands and says, ask for the ancient paths, he's talking about word. He's talking about scripture. He's talking about the well worn paths of those that went before and obeyed god's word. We saw this last week, Raya Burum, as Tom was talking about, if you, if you weren't here, it was a great story, but Raya Brome, is made king, and people come to him and they want their load lightning.

And so what he does is he goes and consults the elders who faithfully served his father. That is a good example of looking for the ancient paths, seeking godly men who've got experience of following the lord. But if you remember, he then consults the younger men, and he chooses their way. He chooses and affect the new shiny road. Bad decision.

Now in this passage in Jeremiah, he wants Israel to follow the ancient path of god's decrees, of god's laws, of god's words. He's saying to Israel, when you're standing at a crossroads and looking, and you're deciding which way to go, then like Joshua go the way of the lord. That's why I love that the end of Joshua, but as for me and my household, we will serve the lord. The idea of following the ancient path means following the word of god. We find that all over scripture.

Psalm hundred and 19 is all about the ancient path being the word. Verse 1, blessed are those whose ways are blameless who walk according to the law of the lord. Verse 33, teach me lord the way of your decrees that I may follow it to the end. Verse hundred and 5, your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. But sadly, if you look back with me at the end of verse 16, Dirmiah says the people of Israel won't do it.

Look at 16, nobody at the end. But you said we will not walk in it. I appointed Watchman, that's the profits over you and said listen to the sound of the trumpet, but you said we will not listen. And so you get to verse 19. Here you Earth, I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes, because they have not listened to my words and have rejected my law.

Israel standing at a crossroads, it needed to choose the ancient paths, which means following god's word, following scripture, and they wouldn't do it. They wanted the new shiny path which led to destruction. And so for us, we need to look for the ancient paths we need to look in the bible for where we're supposed to be going. We need to look to those who faithfully followed it before. Coming back to the example I gave of the elders at Cornerstone reviewing, you know, the directional travel of the church, the 1 thing we constantly ask ourselves is this, are we in line with the Bible?

Is this what god would have us do? Is this what the Bible says? Does it promote the gospel? That was that last question, does it promote the Gospel? Is the great strength of Dave Redington.

And we miss him asking that question in the eldership because it's a as individuals and as church, it is very easy to get stale and to go after the latest idea, the latest fad in worship, the latest you know, idea in theology to abandon the ancient paths because of a shiny new road. So a church has to constantly ask itself will we glorify god in our services or will we entertain ourselves? Will we preach the gospel or is that too difficult to sell to our neighbor and our friends. So let's tone the message down. Will we preach what the Bible says and what faithful preachers have bounded over years, or do we seek some new revelation?

When we find ourselves at crossroads in life in church life. We must stop. We must stand. We must look. And then we must rely on seek out the ancient path of god's word.

Thirdly, We're to find the good way and move forward verse 16. This is what the lord says. Stand at the crossroads and look, ask for the ancient paths, Ask where the good way is and walk in it. See if the ancient path is a specific route, it's a well worn trail. It's the word of god, then the good way in the original language is a much more sort of bigger phrase, a much more general phrase It's more it's just wider referring, to your whole of your life, really, when it talks about the general way, the good way.

We're on a journey. So Jeremiah is saying, look, ask for god's path, ask for the eternal way of doing things and then ask how we journey along that way. How do you get your life to follow that? Drami was telling Israel to stick with god's word and live a life of obedience to god. But for us, these verses are telling us to seek Jesus Christ because he's the word.

Jesus shows us the good way and is the ancient path because he is the word made flesh. John 1 verse 14, the word became flesh and made his dwelling amongst us. Jesus is our path. Jesus is our way. In fact, he tells his disciples, doesn't he?

That he's going to heaven to prepare a place for them, and that he'd come back, John 14 verse voices, you know the way to the place where I am going. And they respond or Thomas responds. Law, we don't know where you're going. So how can we know the way? And then we get that fantastic verse?

I am the way the truth and the life. No 1 comes to the father except through me. So for us, when we're at the crossroads, when we're looking, we need to seek, we need to ask for Jesus Christ, make him lord of your life. Walk with him moving forward trusting him. That's the good way that he's talking about.

That's the biblical way. And amazingly what it says, which we're not used to, because we don't think like this, because it's old testament thinking in a sentence, he says here it will go well for us if we choose it. Now that doesn't mean materially It's not a prosperity gospel. See, what's the result of asking for the ancient way, the good way? Well, it says in verse 16, you will find rest for your soul.

That's our fourth point. If we come to Jesus, if we go down that ancient path, The Bible reveals Jesus to us, then we're promised we will find rest for our souls. Spurgent, goes as far as reversing this verse and almost making it a test, actually, is very interesting. What he does with it, he says you may judge which is the old path, you may judge which is the good way in which you ought to walk by this test. If you're in the old path, if you're in the good way, you do find rest for your soul.

In making the point, you see that the sacrifices under the law, the works that we so often Chase as if we can, you know, in some way, impress god and add something to our salvation, they never give any permanent rest, do they? Spurgeon says, he who brings a sin offering finds peace briefly, but then he has to bring another off. But if we follow in the good way, which means following Jesus, then we have real rest, real peace, because it's not down to us to do stuff. He's our once and for sacrificial lamb. As Jesus hung on the cross, he provides a full atonement for all the things we've done wrong, for all the times we've turned away from him.

And the punishment that we deserve he took for us. So now as we follow the good ways, we walk with him on this path, we will find rest for ourselves. Isn't that amazing? Don't you want that? So the Jews who heard Jesus speak, who spent time with them, would have known this verse.

In Jeremiah. They'd have known what the prophet was saying. They'd have known about the crossroads and finding peace in your soul That's why in Matthew's gospel, the gospel written to the Jews. Matthew records in chapter 11 verse 28. He records Jesus saying this.

Come to me, all you who are wear weary and burdened, and I will give you rest, take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I'm gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. That would have echoed Jeremiah to them. Ask for the path, ask for the good way, and you will find rest for your souls, take my yoke upon you, learn from me, and you will find rest. For your souls. Terrific.

But what happens if we choose the wrong path. If we don't trust god's word, if we don't look to Jesus, if we don't go down the good way, See what happened in Jeremiah's day? He tells us in chapter 5, before the reading we had today, that the population that Israel had basically become morally bankrupt, full of greed full of lust. The prophets, I love this phrase, were now full of wind, he says, and the priests has become just as bad. They were living as they pleased and they were strong and merciless on the Jewish population.

And in the last verses, a chapter 5 god delivers a real shock. Just have a look. Back with me at chapter 5, right at the end, verse 31. The prophets prophecy lies the priests rule by their own authority and then this is the shock and my people love it this way. See, everyone's lost.

They're all at sea morally. They're on the wrong path it had become so easy to be a Jew under this regime. No demands. No care for the poor. No requirements for holiness.

Do as you like. The priests were. Do as you like, and the people loved it. Now isn't that where we started this morning? Isn't that where we are today?

We live in an age of super fast communication of global transport systems a world basically of recreation and entertainment. It's an age of tolerance and a humanity that believes is not only enlightened, but that it's improving. And the view of that sort of culture is that any religion needs to keep up with the times. It needs to advance Otherwise, it's just becomes ancient and old and irrelevant. So we can't be expected, can we?

To bother with the old pathways. We need to be communicated in an entertaining way stimulated by visual and amusing short sentences because we have no attention span anymore. I went to a talk. It actually wasn't terrible to talk. But every time the guy said Jesus in this tour, a picture of a vine came up.

And he just did it the whole time, and it was like, we couldn't hear it without people think that's where we are, but it is where a lot of people are. And in Israel's day, the consequences of not going god's way and expecting religion to keep pace was really severe. Look at verse 20 of chapter 6. What I what do I care about incense from Shebo's sweet calamus from a distant land, your burnt offerings are not acceptable. Your sacrifices do not please me.

Therefore, this is what the lord says. I will put obstacles before these people. Parents and children alike will stumble over them. Neighbors and friends will perish. So that first verse about incense and burnt offerings is speaks directly to us this morning, into our culture, into what we were just thinking about.

The people of Jerusalem no doubt thought they were progressive. They were becoming sophisticated contemporary in their worship. Their services became more lavish, importing exotic perfumes by camel to spice up the ore, I guess. You know, they were encouraging, let's have more smells, let's bring more stuff in, and then we'll feel closer to god. It was an insatiable quest for the latest thing.

By contrast, the ancient paths are despised for their simplicity. People of god, meeting in the presence of god to pray, sing, break bread, Listen to god's word. It's not what we want now, is it? See, the problem is if we choose a path other than Jesus, other than god's word here, then for quite a long time, the outside world won't notice. In fact, they may even celebrate our newfound liberalism and apparent sudden tolerance, we'll still be meeting on Sundays.

We'll still be singing songs. There'll be prayers in a sermon. It's just we won't be true to god's word anymore. We won't be faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And at that point, god says here in Jeremiah that your worship and your singing and your prayers are no longer accept They're no longer pleasing.

You worship me with your mouth, but your heart is far from me with god say. Now the consequences in verse 20 for Israel at the time is even worse Jeremiah tells Israel not only to forget their sacrifices and worship as they're a waste of time. But that god is actively gonna put obstacles in their way and cause them to perish. See, it seemed like a good way to them when they started. It's a nice road.

It was new and shiny. Why wouldn't you choose that over the ancient paths they were thinking yet soon they find those obstacles all over the place, bumps, potholes, hidden dangers. And Jeremiah is saying those obstacles were put there by god. Why? Why would he do that?

Because he wants you on the other path. He wants you to stop turn back, return to him, return to the good way. Want to commentators reading wrote this, many people seem to be accelerating down the road to nowhere at faster and faster speeds forgetting that if you're lost, Going faster only gets you further away from where you need to be. God wants you back on the right path. And so we must listen to this this morning.

To god's word urging us to find the good way. GK Chesterson said Christianity has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried. Is that you? Have you found following Jesus difficult in the last year, the last month whenever?

And so you've moved on what seemed to be and looked like an easier path. Are you at a crossroads now in your life. Which path will you take? The new 1 that looks shiny, but where god will put obstacles and difficulties in your way or the eternal ancient way where you'll find rest for your souls. You know, we have to decide now.

You have to decide now, which path you're gonna go on? Stop, look ask for the ancient path, ask for the good way, follow Jesus, and you'll find rest for your soul. Let's pray. Father god, we thank you for this vivid image of a crossroads. That all Jeremiah has, spoken to us.

The youth spoken through him to us this morning, help us to stop, to look, to listen, to think, to look and seek out those that ancient path that is the Bible, to seek out the good way that is Jesus Christ. That we will find the right path for our lives, for our church, that in finding the good way in walking in it and looking and listening to your word that we might see a real impact in this town of of Kingston that more people will come to know you because we're sticking with the ancient paths, we're not looking for a new fad in worship, in theology, a new revelation, Thank you, lord, for your word. Thank you. That is everything we need. Help us to love it more, help us to read it, study it, and be changed by it, but most of all, lord, keep us on the right path that we can look forward to being in heaven with you.

In Jesus' name, amen,