The Way of Blessedness

Transcript

GRM 1084
05/27/2012
The Way of Blessedness
Psalm 1
Gil Rugh

We’re going to look into Psalm 1 today. We’re going to take a break in our family series, with the holiday week. Since things are going to be different, I’m getting to the age, I need a little more adjustment time. I thought we would look at Psalm 1. It ties to what we’ve been doing in the morning and the evening. The morning in our study in the family, and in the evening in James. You’ll note, when you’re back this evening for James, you’ll see some of the connections of what we’re talking about in Psalm 1.

Psalm 1 lays a theme that is going to permeate the book of Psalms. It is placed at the beginning of Psalms for a purpose. The themes that are put in Psalm 1 will be repeated throughout the Psalms. Also, later in what we know as the wisdom literature of Proverbs. A key foundational passage on the contrast that exists between the child of God and the one who is not a child of God. Between the happy and blessedness of the righteous and the misery and ultimately end of those who are not righteous. We live in a world that’s consumed by happiness. Everything that’s put out to us in advertisements is, this will make you happy. This will fulfill you. This will make life more enjoyable. God lays the foundation very simply in Psalm 1, where true blessedness, true happiness comes from.

You’ll note, Psalm 1 begins, “How blessed is the man.” That word translated “blessed”, it’s a plural word. You could say, ‘oh the blessedness’s of the man’, ‘the happiness’s of the man.’ That word “happy” is a valid translation, but it’s a little bit shallow. We talk about being happy, and it’s somewhat superficial. The happiness we’re talking about here, the blessedness comes from within. This would be the word translated into Greek, that Jesus used in the beatitudes, starting with the sermon on the mount. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” Blessed are, blessed. The true happiness, the true inner contentment, joy, prosperity of soul that God brings to the life of one who belongs to Him, “How blessed is the man.”

What he’s going to do here is have several parallel ideas. Hebrew poetry, one form of it, is what’s called parallelism, where you say one thing, then you say it again in a little different word, and you may say it again. He’s going to have three parallel ideas that are going to run here. They are going to develop upon one another.

The contrast in these 6 verses is clear. The first 3 verses talk about the blessed man, the happy man. The person who is spiritually prosperous; and has from within, a contentment and a joy in his life. In contrast, verses 4, 5 & 6 bring the other side. The wicked are not like the righteous who are blessed and have the joy of the Lord in their lives. There’s a contrast and a parallel that develops here, that we’ll see in the contrast. But with the parallel, you’ll note he talks about the man who does not walk, that word “walk”. Then he talks about “stand” in the next line. Then he talks about “sit”, and you can see the parallel, walk, stand, sit. He’ll talk about it in the first line, “the counsel”. Then the second line, “the path.” The third line, “the seat”. All the same ideas developed a little differently and a little further. Then he’ll talk about “wicked” at the end of the first line. Then he’ll talk about “sinners” in the second line. Then “scoffers”, the third line. You see that parallel ideas that are developed. The wicked, the sinners, the scoffers, we’re talking about the same people. A little different word, bring a little different emphasis, but the same people, the same condition.

First is “how blessed”, or “oh the blessedness’s”, “the happiness’s”, it’s a fullness of life, coming from within, of “the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked.” The counsel of the wicked is having your life shaped by the ideas, the thinking of those who do not know the Lord. That’s who the wicked are, those who do not have a relationship with the living God. Have not experienced His forgiveness of sin. Don’t know what it means to have a relationship with God.

The blessed man, the man who is enjoying the fulness of God’s work in his heart and life. Does not have his life shaped by the thinking and input of the wicked. This word “wicked”, is a common word for the ungodly throughout the Old Testament. It’s not just specific advice that’s given, or counsel, as we might use the word counsel. It’s that whole realm of the ungodly, and their approach to life. Their thinking, that begins to shape a person. We live in the world, but we’re not to be of the world. We’re not to allow ourselves, as believers, to become conformed by the world. Paul wrote to the Romans and gave them the instructions, not to be conformed by the world, but be transformed by the making new of your mind. So here it says, they don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, the world around us and its thinking. Its approach to life, its thinking about the importance of certain things. That doesn’t shape the true believer, the one who has God’s happiness produced in the life.

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners.” Same idea that carries us along a little further. Talks about a person who’s joined the lifestyle of sinners. Again, a different word than “the wicked”, but the same group of people we’re talking about, sinners, unredeemed, unforgiven. The man who has happiness coming from within, has not had his life shaped by the world’s thinking, so he does not “stand in the path of sinners.” He hasn’t joined that lifestyle, that pattern of life. We’re all under pressure. You know, we get concerned about our teenagers; and others say, oh, peer pressure. There is an element of that at that key time of their life, we get concerned about their friends and the influence that they will have on them. They’re more concerned about what their friends think than they are about what their parents think. They want to fit in. That’s true for us as adults as well. You know, we haven’t left the world. The pressure of the world and its thinking, what’s important to us, I’m old; someone reminded me when I came in, you didn’t have grey hair when you were in here before. Time goes by, things happen. But you know, you’re never done. Now that I’m old, I can be shaped by thinking like the world, because what? Oh boy, am I going to enjoy my retirement. Am I going to get everything out I want. Am I going to be able to do the things I want. Am I going to be . . . Wait a minute, wait a minute, nothing wrong with retirement, I hope. Maybe some day I’ll enjoy it, if not, I’ll have heaven ahead. But I don’t want to be thinking, shaped by the the thinking of the world. Pretty soon, how am I different than the world? What I plan, what I do, what I think and how my life is lived.

So, the truly happy person doesn’t stand in the path of sinners. Their lifestyle hasn’t been shaped by the counsel of the wicked, so that now they live like the sinner. “Nor sit in the seat of the scoffers.” You can see, you walk, you stand, you sit. The walk denotes a pattern. When you stand, you’ve settled into a place. But when you take a seat there, now you’ve settled down. Now, you are sitting in the seat of the scoffer. The scoffer is the one who is openly opposed with his life, to what God stands for. To what God has said. The pattern that comes, the more and more the thinking of the world shapes my life. More and more, I begin to live like the world. Pretty soon, now I reflect the attitude of the world, and all that is in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the boastful pride of life. That develops a distain for the truth of God. We see that in our society, all the wicked, but there is a progressive deterioration, as there always is with sin. But we see it in our day, a more open scoffing and rejecting. A more open flagrant display of sin and denial of God and His truth.

A truly blessed person, a truly happy person, that has the joy that comes from within, not produced by external circumstances, is the man that God is working in a life, in a special way. As a man who keeps a distance between himself and the world, in the proper sense. This contrast developed in Psalm 1, carries on through the Psalms. It’s picked up in the book of Proverbs numerous times. Turn over to Proverbs 1. The contrast here, you don’t walk in the counsel of the wicked. You don’t stand in the path of sinners. You don’t sit in the seat of scoffers, warning in the Proverbs. Look at Proverbs 1:7, as we’ve looked at in previous studies. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” You see the contrast between the two kinds of people. One that would fear the Lord, the one who would despise, if you will, the Lord. The wise man and the fool. Jump down to verse 10 – “My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent.” Ok, the contrast now, two types of people and the influence here. The warning “Don’t submit yourself to the advice, to the counsel of the wicked”. Don’t consent to them and what they would want you to do, and how your life is to be conducted. They go on to talk about it. One of the things that they encourage about is verse 13. “We shall find all kinds of precious wealth; we shall fill our houses with spoil.” That’s still an appeal, it comes from the world. They talk to us about how you can be rich. How you can be wealthy. How you can be prosperous. How important this is. I get a number of business magazines at home, because they give me a great discount, and so it’s cheaper to get it that way. They are constantly honoring the rich, the wealthy. Now, here are the women who have succeeded in the top women and top positions, making so much money. The men making so much money, top position. Here are the people, the youngest people who have come to great wealth. This is what’s important. Pretty soon, it begins to shape our thinking. You know, these things become of over winning theme for us.

Verse 15, “My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your feet from their path.” See the same kind of instruction we have, as in the Psalms. Keep yourself separate in the right sense, from them. Come over to chapter 4, there are many verses we could look at, I just picked a couple of a few select verses. Chapter 4:13, “Take hold of instruction; do not let go, guard her, for she is your life.” I’m going to talk about the Word of God in a moment and its place. This is the truth that is to shape the life. “Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not proceed in the way of evil men. Avoid it, do not pass by it; turn away from it and pass on.” Keep yourself away from the input of the wicked. The path of the wicked. Don’t even proceed by it. You know, one of the things we learn as we get older is things to avoid. We end up telling our children, they grow up and the get in trouble and they say, ‘Well I couldn’t help it.’ I say, ‘You could have helped it’, ‘You shouldn’t have been there in the first place’, right? Don’t go by that way. Years ago, I had a man come to me with having some difficulty with moral areas of his life. Every time he went down this street, he found himself drawn to immoral things. I said, “What are you doing on that street?” “Well, it’s the quickest way home.” No, it’s the quickest way to trouble for you. Go around the block. Go five blocks around. Don’t go near it; and so, the advice here.

Turn over to chapter 13 of Proverbs. It would go on, you’re familiar with Proverbs. Encourage you in the reading of Proverbs, reading of Psalms. Five Psalms a day, one Proverb a day, and you move through the book of Psalms and the book of Proverbs in a month. A great foundation for us. Proverbs 13:20, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.” Same kind of contrast that we’re talking about in Psalm 1. Choose your friends wisely. We can’t leave the world, not yet. We live in the world. We’re to be lights in the midst of darkness. But we have to be very careful, there is a huge gap between us and the world. We are different people on different roads, to different ends. We could not be more different. We’re talking about the children of God and the children of the Devil. So, encourage, he who walks with wise men will be wise, a companion of fools will suffer harm. You’re close to chapter 14, look at verse 7 – “Leave the presence of a fool, or you will not discern words of knowledge.” Again, the contrast between the son who is to be wise, that is being addressed and the fools. Don’t be absorbed in that. It doesn’t mean we don’t have contact, we may have a job, work with that. We have neighbors, we live there. We’re not to have our nose in the air, and I don’t talk to you. But who are those closest to me? Who influences me? Who are my closest companions? That becomes foundational to shaping my life, even as a believer. Paul put it very simply. You don’t need to turn there, 1 Corinthians 15:33, “Bad company corrupts good morals.” It’s what we’re talking about here. Bad company corrupts good morals. We see it with our kids, as we use them. Well, you’re going to go with them, and go to their parties and go where they go. Pretty soon you’re going to have the pressure more and more to get drawn in with them, right? We, as believers need them, well I fill my life. We have a lot more pressure on this today than the writer of the Psalms did, more influence. Because of all of our electronic media, from television and everything else. We can bring it in all the time. The thinking of the world just pervades us. You know, we listen to it through the day when we’re doing stuff. We watch it, and what? Pretty soon it just begins to shape my thinking. My life gets built around it.

Come back to Psalm 1. So, I want to be careful about the input of the ungodly in my life. How I allow it to shape my life. How my life begins to adjust according to the thinking of the world and where that ultimately leads. Not enough though, to avoid the wicked. There’s the positive side of this, and it’s a strong contrast with the blessed man. Rather than his input, and life shaping advice coming from the world, it comes from where? “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night.” The person whose life is filled with the Word of God, that’s what he’s talking about. His delight is in the law of the Lord. Crucial area for believers. One of the things that happens, that begins to lead believers and the church into trouble is, believers’ passion for the truth of God cools. Is the Word of God less precious to me than the day after my conversion? Am I less thrilled with it? Am I less hungry for it? Or does it wain? Well, no, yeah, I, it ended a lot, I know a lot about it, I know a lot of it. You know, I just don’t feel the same need to be as, you know, consuming. His delight, this blessed man, the man who is going to receive the fullness of God’s blessing, not only avoids the input of the wicked in his life, and their life-shaping influence, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. “And in His law he meditates day and night.” Meditates on, goes over it. You know, the world has its form of meditation. It has nothing to do with what the bible talks about meditation. That is the world’s the Devil’s plan. It’s in total opposition to God. The world’s view of meditation, and they draw it from eastern religions. You know, you empty your mind. Sometimes you have a word that you’re going to concentrate on and go over and over, so that you can just put the things out of your mind. The world and all the things around you, out of your mind. You’ll say, yeah, that just gives me a tranquility and peace. But you understand, that doesn’t come from God. That’s a counterfeit. Because what the believer is meditating upon, is the Word of God, with which he has filled his mind in his life. That’s totally different. I’m not emptying my mind, I’m filling it. I’m not concentrating on a numbing word or thought, I’m concentrating on the truth of God. He meditates on it day and night. This idea that I don’t think about anything else, you have other responsibilities that you think about. But this shapes our lives. That’s what he was talking about in verse 1, wasn’t it? Don’t allow your life to be shaped by the world, but rather have it shaped by the Word of God. That’s what you take in, that’s your delight. That’s what you’re thinking about, dwelling upon so that it shapes what you do. So, the things that come up in my life, what I think about. What do I think about this? How should I proceed as a child of God? How do I find that out? Well, here’s what the Word of God says. I apply that here. How should I respond in this situation? Would this be a good thing for me to do? All of that comes from what? The wealth. Like your children, as they get older, you expect more of them. Because what? They’ve taken in more; they should be able to make wiser decisions on the basis of what they’ve been taught. That’s with us, the more you know the Word, the surer, the clearer the action is here. If I don’t know the Word, or I don’t know it well, then I make a bad decision. I say, I don’t know what happened there. Well, what happened is, I didn’t do what the Word of God told me I should do. So, that’s what meditating on the Word of God involves. It means it permeates my life day and night. So, all my decisions are ultimately shaped by the Word. Now, obviously some things don’t tell me. It doesn’t tell, you know, what color we ought to paint the walls. But those decisions that matter, everything is shaped by the truth of God.

Come over to Joshua 1, back to Joshua 1, going the wrong way. Joshua 1, right after the first five books of Moses, after Deuteronomy, we come to Joshua. Moses has died. Joshua has taken up the mantle of leadership for the nation Israel. God gives him great promises. Verse 5, “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.” What a promise! God will not fail you or forsake you. A promise that we have, by the way, remember what Jesus said? “I will never leave you or forsake you. I am with you always, even to the end of the age, be strong and courageous.” Verse 7, “Only be strong and very courageous.” Now, note what follows, “be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you.” The law, referring to the Word of God as they had it. The first five books of Moses, foundational here. Later on, the word “law”, will be used not only of the first five books, but sometimes of the revelation that God has given through the Old Testament. You note now, “You be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.” Success, ties with that word “blessedness”, the fulfillment and fullness and accomplish what God would have us accomplish. The satisfaction that will come from that. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.” You see why you meditate upon it. Why you’re thinking about it. Thinking it through so you can do it. That’s the point. Knowing the Word, but not doing it, is of no value. “You meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord you God is with you wherever you go.” God hasn’t called you or me to do the same thing as Joshua, as far as certain physical activity. Joshua was to lead an army, go to conquer a land and so on. The same principles that are said to Joshua here, are true of us, because they are repeated for us. As I mentioned, He promises He’ll never leave or forsake us. He will be with us always, to the end of the age, when He’ll come and then be with us personally. So, I’m strong and courageous, why? Well, I’ve taken a course on how to have confidence, or wait a minute. Where does this come from? It comes from within; and with that comes what? The peace, the contentment, the joy, the happiness that God gives. Knowing that He is working in my life, producing His character within me.

Come over to Psalm 119. Great Psalm on the Word of God. Now, we have a blessing and a privilege, we have the Word of God with us all the time. You used to say, we can get this book and carry it around, some of you now have it on your electronic things, even an electronically numb person like me, I have a phone; you know what? I press one button and I answer the phone. I press another button and I read the bible. That’s amazing to me. I even found, no, never mind. I’ve had this phone for months, and I wonder what all these little icons were doing on the screen, so I pushed one. I find out where people get a lot of this stuff, right there on the phone. At any rate, they didn’t have that in the Old Testament. They didn’t have that in years past. So, you know, when they say fill your mind, meditate, you know what they had to do? When they went and had the scriptures read to them, they had to pay attention and concentrate, remember it and think about it. I mention that in Psalm 119, some helpful things done for their memory. Psalm 119 is a long chapter, and you’ll note, it’s broken up into sections. The first one starts, Aleph. The second starts, Beth. The third one is Gimel. These are just the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and those first eight verses, all of them begin with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Then from verses 9-16 as we have it, these all begin with the letter, Beth. So, you can see how these would be helpful to remembering portions of the word and committing them to memory. What a privilege we have. They were to meditate on the Word and fill their lives with it. How much more could we be expected to have the Word of God filling our hearts and minds, controlling our lives. Psalm 119 starts out, “How blessed are those.” Here we have that “blessedness”. “How blessed are those whose way is blameless. Who walk in the law of the Lord.” Sounds like Psalm 1, doesn’t it? “How blessed are those who observe His testimonies, who seek Him with all their heart. They also do no unrighteousness; they walk in His ways.” Contrary, you can’t be unrighteous, walk and practice unrighteousness and walk in the ways of the Lord. “You have ordained Your precepts, that we should keep them diligently. Oh, that my ways may be established to keep Your statutes! Then I shall not be ashamed when I look upon all Your commandments. I shall give thanks to You with righteousness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments. I shall keep Your statutes; do not forsake me utterly! How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping it according to Your Word.” Verse 11, “Your Word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.” Verse 14, “I have rejoiced in the way of Your testimonies, as much as in all riches.” Do the ungodly say that? No, they count their riches. But for us, the Word of God is a treasure, more valuable than the wealth of the world. For we know, as Peter reminded us, that all these things will be burned up. So, what kind of people ought we to be in godliness of life? Look at verse 24, “Your testimonies also are my delight; they are my counselors.” I don’t go to the world; I go to the Word. Verse 38, “Establish Your Word to Your servant, as that which produces reverence for You.” Verse 50, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your Word has revived me.” I see what goes on in all situations of life. The pleasant times, the unpleasant times. The times of affliction, the Word of God is going to bring blessing and sustain me, and bring me His joy, even in that time. Verse 63, “I am a companion of all those who fear You, and of those who keep your precepts.” Those are my closest companions. Doesn’t mean I don’t have friends, so to speak, that are unbelievers. My true companions, those I’m closest to, those are those who are also committed to keeping the Word of God. That’s part of what we do in the fellowship of believers, right? To reinforce it, it encourages me. When I see you being faithful to the Lord, that encourages me to be faithful to the Lord. I see you’re trusting Him in difficulties, that’s a reminder to me, I can trust Him in difficulties also. He is sufficient. That constant blessing. Just jot down Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them. And Your Word was to me, the joy and rejoicing of my heart, for I am called by Your name, O Lord God of Hosts.” What a great verse. Jeremiah, the weeping prophet, what brought joy and rejoicing to his heart? “Your Word”, and I devoured it, I ate it, it was the food of my soul, and that brought joy and rejoicing to me. That’s to be the pattern of the believer’s life.

Alright, we have to come back to Psalm 1. The blessed man, not walking in the way of the world, if I can summarize it. But he delights in the word of the Lord. It’s God’s Word that shapes his life in all areas. The result of that, verse 3, “He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.” That’s the outcome. The contrast though, blessed man doesn’t walk in the ways of the world, rather his life is shaped by the Word of God. Then this picture of the tree. Israel is a land of, a desert land in many ways, and trees were pictured back then, in that time and in that environment of blessing, prosperity, health. I mean, it would be like the oasis you’ll see in movies or something like that, an oasis. Here in the desert here, trees flourishing, nourished by the water. A picture of life and prosperity, even in the midst of death and desertness. The picture here, the blessed man is like a tree planted by streams of water. I mean, there’s a constant source here. It yields its fruit in its season and its leaf doesn’t wither. Whatever he does is prosperous. So, you see the blessedness, the happiness and the provision of God covers all areas of our lives. That doesn’t mean we’ll be healthy, wealthy and so on. But it does mean that we will experience God’s blessings, God’s sufficiency, God’s sustaining us, even in those difficult times. That’s the paradox often, seems you look from the outside, the world is falling apart, my health is deteriorating, like Paul wrote about his health, “though my outer man is deteriorating, yet my inner man is being made new, day by day.” You say, ‘how does that work?’ I remember one of the wealthiest men in the world spent his closing years, closed in one room of a mansion in England. Calling around the world every day, trying to find somebody who could extend his life. He would give him most of his fortune, if they could help. What did he have? He couldn’t. But we have something, even when death comes, right? That’s the last enemy. It will be destroyed. For us, there will be victory in the end. So, even through the pain of death, the sorrow of death and those things, I can experience the enabling grace of God. What a contrast.

Come over to Jeremiah 17. I just quoted from Jeremiah 15, come over to Jeremiah 17. That was Jeremiah 15:16, that I just referred to, “Your words were found, and I ate them.” Then in Jeremiah 17:5, “Thus says the Lord, cursed is the man who trusts in mankind, and makes flesh his strength. And his heart turns away from God.” Then he compares it to a bush in the desert that has no future. That destruction is its end. Verse 7, “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.” See, the same picture, the same contrast in this section of Jeremiah. Doesn’t say there won’t be any drought ever come. Doesn’t say there won’t be the difficult times. But the sufficiency of the Lord continues to come into my life. I didn’t know how I would do it, but the Lord gave me the grace day by day. He doesn’t give me tomorrow’s grace today; He gives me today’s grace today. Sometimes I get tripped up and think, oh boy, what am I going to do next week? What do you mean? The question is what am I going to do today. Remember Jesus said, what? Each day has enough trouble of its own. Doesn’t mean I don’t plan as a wise person as best I can. But I don’t have any worries about tomorrow, because the God who provides for me today, will take care of me tomorrow. The plans I make are contingent on what He plans for me. But I know, in it all, one thing will be sure, the Lord will be there. He will be sufficient. So, I’ll be like the tree that is nourished even in the time of drought. It’s a time of blessing, there is a consistency in the life of the child of God, that’s, oh boy, it’s going good today, but I don’t know, what about, I don’t know. We have that song, “I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.” The idea, peace, contentment.

Come back to Psalm 1. This is true in the New Testament. We’re not going to a lot of these verses, but Colossians 3:16, in that section, “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Dwell in you richly. That overflowing, abundance of God’s Word in our lives, it shapes what we say and what we do. Well, the blessedness of the man whose life is not shaped by the world, but by the truth of God; he has God’s joy, God’s peace, God’s happiness, God’s fullness in his life, all seasons of the year. The contrast, but the wicked are not so. What a blunt statement. This is all that we have with the blessed man. The man who belongs to God and has the work of God overflowing in his life. The riches of His Word. The wicked are not so. Just a blunt statement.

What would you compare the wicked to? A tree that’s not going so well. No, the wicked “are like chaff.” And he can’t get any more extreme in the analogy here. That’s why you have it in other places like, Jeremiah, the tree, the flourishing, prosperous tree. A picture of blessing, fullness and the chaff. That’s a strong statement. People don’t like to hear this today. I had somebody who wrote to the editor a day or two ago. I don’t know which paper, the Omaha or the Lincoln paper. They were saying, all this talk about the Bible and about God and what the bible says. Here’s what God is really like. He’s a god who is welcoming and excepting and not judgmental. Who would think that? You know what God says? The wicked aren’t blessed. The wicked are worthless as He looks at them. Chaff, the chaff, you know, when they brought in the grain. Some of you have farming background and know more about it than I do; but they would grind it out on the threshing floor. Then you have the husks, the chaff and the grain there. Then they would take the winnowing fork and throw it in the air. They had their threshing floors on the hills there, where the wind would blow across, and the heavier grain would fall onto the floor again; and the chaff would be blown off the side. Pretty soon here, as the wind blew off, it would drop, you would have a pile of chaff. They keep on doing it until the chaff was blown off, and you’d have the grain. Then what do you do with the chaff? You throw it into the fire and burn it up, it’s not good for anything. Well, that’s a terrible statement! In one sense, when you think about the striking contrast. Those who experience the blessing of God, are like a flourishing tree that is fruitful all the time; and its leaves never wither. The prosperity and happiness and blessedness of God is theirs every day. The wicked? They are worthless, good only for burning. They are of no value to God. I hear people say you are so valuable that Christ died for you. Amazing thing of God’s grace is you are so worthless, but Christ died for you. I am so worthless Christ died for me, that is the amazing grace. The wicked are not so, they are like chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. The Lord knows the way of the righteous, the way of the wicked will perish. There is no future for the chaff. One version the chaff Matthew chapter 3. I would like to think of Christ He is loving and e is kind kind He is merciful. But He is also a judge of great severity. John the Baptist announcing the coming of Christ verse 12 of Matthew 3, “His winnowing fork is in His hand” the winnowing fork was the fork they used to throw up the grain into the air so the chaff would blow off; they were winnowing it. The grain would fall down. “His winnowing fork is in His hand,” this is a picture of Him when He comes. He’s coming prepared to exercise discerning judgment, sifting judgment. “He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” There is no middle ground. What about if you are not a tree or chaff? No answer right since there are no such people. You understand that there are only two kinds of people in the whole world: the flourishing tree and the worthless chaff. Jesus said “if you are not with Me, you are against Me” no I’m on the fence right now, I’m sorry there is no fence for you to sit on; you are either with Me or against Me. That’s the way scripture is it is that defining. In Matthew 7, two kinds of people, two ways of life, and two destinies. Old Testament, New Testament the scripture, this is it. Two kinds of people two ways of life, two destinies. Matthew chapter 7, Sermon on the Mount. People say oh, I like the Sermon on the Mount, good place to start to talk with them. Remember when Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount wasn’t that wonderful, that was great. I like the Sermon on the Mount too. Let’s read a portion of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is wrapping up the Sermon on the Mount nowis wheat drawing to a conclusion. Here is what He says verse 13, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it, For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life, and few are those who find it.” Isn’t it something that Jesus would say that? There was an article this weekend by a man claiming to be an Evangelical Christian. He said he was raised to believe that most people were going to hell, but a few select people by God’s grace are going to heaven, but he says that can’t be true because God is a God of love, and everybody has to end up in heaven. Well, you understand that’s what you are saying, that is not what Jesus said. He says there are two gates, a broad gate and a narrow gate. He said most people are going through the broad gate, the wide gate, He says there is a gate that is small and narrow and there are few going through it. One gate one road leads to destruction, the other gate the other road leads to life. Many are going to destruction entering the broad gate traveling the broad road, ending in destruction. Contrast warned of false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing pretending to tell truths, but they lie. You know them by their fruits we have two different kinds of trees, “grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes, nor figs from thistles, are they? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit; but the bad tree bears bad fruit.” See the contrast only two kinds: good tree, bad tree, good fruit bad fruit. “A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” Same place as the chaff this is of no value to God that is why in Romans chapter 3 that God talks about the sinners, the wicked, He says that they are useless, they have no value to Him. Harsh statement. I realize that we are made in the image of God, and even as fallen sinners that image is there. But the ultimate analysis of God, the wicked are worthless to Him. They are good only for destruction. “Not everyone that says to me Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day Lord, Lord we did all these wonderful things and He’ll say I never knew you depart from Me you who practice iniquity.
You see two roads. On the road practicing those things contrary to God, they are going to be destroyed. Doesn’t matter what their religious profession is. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. And the rains fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and slammed the house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who bult his house upon the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed the house; and it fell and great was it fall.” Like the Sermon on the Mount, take them to the Sermon on the Mount, share the truth of God. Two kinds of people two kinds of individuals; the wise man and the fool. One builds his house on the sand the other on the rock. One will be spared; one will be destroyed. Same picture carried though scripture. Come back to Psalm 1 verse 4, “The wicked are not so, but they are like the chaff which when the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgement.” They won’t make it through the judgment they are put to the test they will found to be chaff. Sinners in the assembly of the righteous when Christ sorts them out, which is John the Baptist saying in Matthew 3 verse 12 He will make no mistakes, the righteous, those who have come to righteousness in Him will be one group, everybody else will be the other. For the Lord knows the way of the righteous when He says He knows the way of the righteous and it doesn’t mean He just has information about them …. He knows the way of the righteous, they are the objects of His love, affection and attention. He is watching over them. The way of the wicked will perish. That’s the contrast. We don’t have time to go to other verses. The amazing thing is God can take the chaff and make it a flourishing tree. God can take those that were worthless and make them His precious children. That is the amazing grace of God in salvation, isn’t it? We don’t say or they’re chaff, we are a flourishing tree because we are better. We can tell them that one day we were worthless too. In God’s sight we were good only for judgment; but that is the grace of God. While we were yet sinners, scoffers, the wicked doomed. This is the great demonstration of love while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. It’s not like there was a group here that was never as bad as the other group. There is one group, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is none righteous, no not one. Amazing thing is only God can do this, He can take those, who are sinners, not righteous, chaff headed for an eternal hell only and transform them into something beautiful, something glorious, something that He approves. We will enjoy His presence forever. We will lose focus on who we are; what God has done by His grace in us and how that is to shape our life. We can never go back; we can never be anything other now than when God in His grace made us. We fill ourselves with His Word, His truth our lives shaped by it in all areas so that we might demonstrate the greatness of His grace. Let’s pray. Thank you, Lord, for being such a gracious God. Lord, You have given us Your truth. There is no excuse for misunderstanding. The contrast is so clear. Thank you, Lord, for a salvation that is so great, that can take lost hopeless sinners and cleanse them from their sins, so that they are now whiter than snow. Cause them to be born again. That they become not that which is worthless but that which is precious and now we belong to you for time and eternity. Privileged to live our lives travelling the narrow road and anticipate a glorious end. I pray the truth of this gospel will impact each of our hearts in greater ways, in Christ name