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[0:00] amen and we're going to go to the word of god psalm 1 psalm 1 and psalm 1 is just a beautiful psalm i love it! it's one that is really good to commit to memory to put into your heart the psalm 1 it tells of a life of blessing how to be blessed who wants to be blessed amen who wants to know blessing it tells of two men here two different kinds of people two contrasting paths and there's the person god blesses and the blessed man and then there's the ungodly and we see firstly the blessedness of the righteous the righteous they take the road less traveled really this is the blessed one he does not walk in step with the wicked he's taken a different path he's walking with someone else now and we see that from verse 1 it tells us there blessed it says blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly nor standeth in the way of sinners nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful so it tells us here and introduces the blessed man and his true blessedness his true happiness true joy and satisfaction is found in this truth here's one who's trusted god with his eternal destiny and with his life his daily life and the psalm tells us of some blessings that come to such a one and you could even say oh the blessings of this one the blessings of this man it's apparently got a plurality this sense of blessed it's a plurality there's blessings there's blessing upon blessing for this man the man that walk of not in the counsel of the ungodly and so the bible tells us some things about what this man does not do some have called this section really three degrees of worldliness you could almost see a degradation as backsliding even each of these steps it pitches a progressively worse state of worldliness it tells of them firstly there that they're walking it tells that they're walking not in the council of the ungodly so it tells about a walking about about a direction and we think it's really the outlook of the world isn't it the popular thinking of this world this is a consideration of the world's opinions so starting to listen in to hearken to the council of the world to what the world tells us you know the values of the world and then it goes on the next stage is a standing and it talks about a standing with a supporting a joining in with the sinners are in darkness and it's saying there that this man they're standing in the way of sinners it's like they're going on with the peer pressure and the wrong crowd and the lifestyle of the lost really it's vain it's that accepting of the world's values and then then the third stage is sitting in the seat of the scornful now who knows some scornful people they're just whinges negative full of scoffing about the bible and hateful of christian things and the bible says fools mock at sin don't they this picture's a joining in a taking on of the world's viewpoint and it's interesting apparently in jewish culture sitting was a form of authority so we see when jesus he sat down and when he sat down and taught the disciples it demonstrated that he had authority that he was teaching he was the teacher and as he taught them he sat down he gave them that demonstration of truth as he delivered it and this this truth of sitting down is a picture of wanting to have fellowship and participating it's interesting in genesis 19 when the two angels came to sodom lot was sitting he was sitting in the gate of sodom so the elders of the city were like judges at the gates of the city a lot over a period of time he gained some prominence in the city but in doing so he lost his influence so it says in genesis 19 when he was warning his sons-in-law get up get out of this place for

[4:00] the lord will destroy the city the sons-in-law sort of thought oh this is a joke you're just joking they wouldn't take lots seriously that's genesis 19 14 he'd been sitting at the gate too long sitting in the seat of the scornful and we could think of that for ourselves who are we listening to the world actually we meant to think different from the world aren't we we're meant to reject the counsel of the world what the world says to do to not listen to that to rather listen to god to his word and when did all the trouble start in genesis was when eve started listening to the serpent she sat down and she was listening she was listening to the council the the words of the devil think about the blessed man here the blessed man is marked by the things that he does not do the places that he doesn't go and the company that he does not keep and think of the blessed man when you trust jesus as your savior you take a different track don't you he's the way the truth and the life there's a different way of living and the blessed man is walking in the steps of the savior you see the blessed man used to be another man but god changed him amen because we all used to be the ungodly but god has got a way of changing us from being an ungodly man to a blessed man see in 1 peter 2 verse 21 it tells how we should walk how we should follow in his steps talks about the savior so you think how where where did jesus walk how did jesus walk how did he live we should be trying to aspire to follow after him and so this blessed man it's like they've taken a new path now he's not listening to the people he used to listen to he's not walking with the ones he used to walk with he's not tuning into the talk he used to tune into he's not standing where he used to stand he's not sitting where he used to sit and so a godly man rejects the world's philosophy he does not listen to the ungodly man he does not linger with the sinful man he does not laugh with the scornful man and who knows people that are scorners i've had a few of those lately people that are mocking christ christ deniers it's a different crowd we're not part of that and i know it's a big danger when we hang around people that are a bag in christianity that's there's an association can be dangerous we know that we can't walk together with some people they've got a different spirit they're going a different way so there's a crying need of separation we're a set apart people we're meant to live cancer culturally and there's some things that we're against you know sometimes people make christianity all about loving this or or that but there's some things we actually we make a stand against we actually say no we're not going to join in that that kind of talk that kind of association there's some things that we're against you see through the word of god some of the things that the people of god were against and what god is against things like idolatry we're against that aren't we immorality we're against that hypocrisy pride self-righteousness we're against false prophets and false teaching and deception we're against spiritual compromise we're against doing what's extra biblical we don't have to add to the word of god we've got the full revelation and we're against apathy and complacency the things that we're against amen it's okay to speak against some things it's okay to say no we're not going along with that it's okay to stand up against some things when we're clear that they're wrong that they're not scriptural to hold that which is right and true and godly friends it's okay to be different it's okay to be different it's okay to not go with the flow even though it's popular culture or even popular christianity even though everybody else is doing it and i've heard of a couple of our number that have lost jobs of recent days just in the last week or two that's okay you're made of different stuff amen that can happen for you as a believer stand up for your convictions don't be afraid god will bless you for it it's about that association isn't it whose influence are we going to come under and we need to be discerning about what company we keep the values that we adopt the blessed man it says that he walketh not he standeth not he sitteth

[8:04] not it's a different company that he keeps different values that he adopts now the blessed man he's not an isolationist because he has a blessed company because there's a blessed company amen we've got the church we've got fellow believers we've got brothers and sisters to hang out with we've got a righteous company it tells us in proverbs 13 that he that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed so that's why the church is good for us we get together with wise men and we shall be wise we can help one another we can grow together and the godly will yoke themselves rightly they will walk with the wise so you know choose carefully the ones you want to hang out with look out for those that share that same godly heart the love for god the love for his word and build those relationships with god's people so you can be stronger don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers get in the harness with god's people and get around god's people they can refresh you and help you keep spiritually sharp too it tells us here that iron sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend there's a sense where if we get together with godly men godly women godly families that we can sharpen each other up we can get stronger and the contrast really is friendship with the world it tells us that's enmity against god it's a hostile thing to god so rather than falling for spiritual compromise look for some iron some sharp christians that can help sharpen you up and you can keep on assembling together you can keep on encouraging yourselves and building each other up it started off by that he's not going to tune into the council of the ungodly so where should we go to get counsel where should we go who should we go to to get counsel in this life we can look to people like moses like david like jeremiah like isaiah like solomon matthew luke john peter paul we can trust these men we've got their words to read to we've got the example of their lives to inspire us to be that godly example we can learn from their counsel how to live the things they did right we can learn from the bad things they did too we can learn from the holy word of god it's our counsel it's god's counsel and if you're looking for answers if you're looking for counsel if you're looking for advice for guidance then there's no better place to look than to go to the very word of god don't look to the people of this world but look to god through his word and get his truth so his word does the blessed man tune into we're on verse two now it says but his delight is in the law of the lord and in his law does he meditate day and night where is your joy is it in the word are you delighting in it i know there's some people have been telling me they've read through the bible numbers of times so love the word so much that's a good thing i was talking to one preacher and he was telling me he reads through the bible four times a year well he's beaten me on that one but uh you think that's a stunning thing isn't it to love the word so much that you want to be in it you want to have your delight there and this word translated delight is also translated pleasure now there's a pleasure in the word we can get passionate about it we can love the word of god in studying it it sustains us this is our guide it says by day and by night and this is our delight these words we should we should want to treasure and they they shall be in our heart that we long for them it's our joy we can have i know some have got the motto uh bible before breakfast you know open the word before you do anything else really the first thing you can do it's a good motto isn't it to have that kind of harm and notice it says the blessed man it says in his law or the word of god does he meditate meditate day and night so christian meditation is a good thing it's not i'm emptying your mind it's fulfilling your mind as the the ones who would sit at the feet of gurus would empty their mind and say that they're meditating but really that's it's vain but we don't sit with an empty mind we want god to fill our mind with his word we meditate on the word of god and the word it's not an emptying of the mind but a filling of

[12:09] the mind and the bible tells us how we can have our mind impacted our heart with its truth and we can put that truth into our actions as well the blessed man his delight is in his delight is in the law of the lord and when you think about it for yourself what's your occupation what's occupying your time what's occupying your energy what are you devoting your life to what's your occupation it can be like joshua it says of him this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth that thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then shalt thou have good success it's saying that joshua he had the the mind that that the word was in his mind and his heart he was meditating on it he was meditating on it day and night day and night what about us do we think do we have that same heart what is it that we apply ourselves to are you a student of the word i was thinking really that really for every one of us that we are a full-time bible student amen you don't have to go to bible school as much as that is a good thing but you are a full-time bible student and really you should be a full-time bible student through the the school of life isn't it isn't that so from the minute we're saved we're in the bible school we're in we're in that mode of learning the bible and think of the blessed man he's occupied with the word he loves the word of god he hears it he's filled with it every day every night a man once complained to ra tory that he was getting nothing out of the bible and tory said read it and the man said i do sorry said read it some more and he went on to challenge the man to read the book of second peter 12 times a day for a month and the man was skeptical but he agreed to the challenge and the man later confessed soon i was talking to peter to everyone i met it seemed as though the stars of heaven were singing the story of 2 peter if you put time into it to get deeper into it to to dig into the word to meditate on it day and night to read it and read it again it can be part of us and that man became a psalm one man he was meditating on the word day and night a man who gets excited about the word of god there's a thrill in the word of god he is a delight there for you that know him and look at this blessed man verse 3 what it tells about us tells us about him verse 3 and he should be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season his leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper notice where the blessed man is he's compared to being like a tree and not just any old tree but a fruitful tree and this tree notice where it is it's right by the rivers of water it's right where it needs to be this man is planted he's not some tumbleweed now i've had some people plant themselves in this church today they they've identified with this church they want to belong here they've identified with this church as their family they their godly family and the godly man is planted they're purposefully planted it it's got the sense of really purposefully planted transplants it where god needs the tree to be that's the sense of it that's purposefully planted you know the one who's taken charge of that tree has dug a hole and planted it right there by the rivers of water and so it's a picture of the godly man they're purposefully planted right where god wants them to be and he's that constant source of nourishment when you think of a tree that's planted by the river that tree's not dependent on whether the rain comes or goes we have a river and it flows day in day out we're right by the river he's he's constantly there for us

[16:10] god is with us each and every day and spurgeon points out about this text here that this blessed man he's planted not just by a river but it says by multiple rivers of water so if one river fails he's always got another there's there's multiple rivers and spurgeon commented the rivers of pardon the rivers of grace the rivers of promise the rivers of communion with christ are never failing sources of supply think of it you're planted by the rivers of water and you're planted there's a firmness there you're solid you're grounded and it says you've got to bring forth fruit it says there there's fruit here people can see it taste it he's like this flourishing tree what a picture growing the stability there's nourishment there's a fruitfulness he's vibrant he's unwavering it says his leaf also shall not whether a picture of that greenness of of that vibrancy and this imagery of a tree that's a fruitful tree he's bearing fruit in season out of season that our spiritual growth is this ongoing process and we're called to be that people amen we're called to be fruit bearers he wants you to bear fruit it's his will that you'd be a fruitful tree that you'd be a rich full fruitful tree for the glory of god god wants you to be like a tree like this kind of tree a tree just like that where are you planted now get planted let god find the best place for you and plant yourself right there where you can grow you can draw strength from you can have a fruitful life let's maintain that deep rooted connection to our lord let's grow deeper in our faith as the strong trees are the ones that are firmly planted they can be that healthy tree where there's a spiritual growth we can have that spiritual growth and for us that know the lord we know life can still have times where there's pruning and that's even better for the tree in the long run where god might prune us and then there'll be times of abundance as we're faithful as we're obedient god's trimming us and changing us shaping us such that we'll bear more fruit that we can trust him to produce more fruit and we can bear fruit that glorifies the lord in our life how can we maintain that that kind of fruit bearing how can we be like a tree it's a question we can think about isn't it how can i be more like that tree how can i be more like that man what matters is where we plants it there we plants it and the blessed man it says for him that his leaf will never wither so it's a picture i think of eternity that this man's leaf is not going to wither he shall never die he's got eternity in view he's alive he's this leaf that does not wither he's got life he's in touch with the living god him to know his life eternal and ultimately there's a promise here there's an assurance here of blessings and fulfillment it says that we can prosper we should know this peace this joy this favor it says whatever we do this man is going to prosper now what does prosperity look like there's a a lot of talk about prosperity and i'm going to be a prosperity preacher this morning i'm going to tell you how i'll tell you what prosperity is all right i see job i see job sitting on the ash heap scraping his boils and he says i know that my redeemer liver that's prosperity amen i see joseph who suffered many trials and losses forsaken by his brethren false accusations imprisoned in privation and he looks back at all the heartache and all the loss and he says god meant it unto good that's prosperity isn't it that's prosperity i see shadrach meshach and abednego thrown into the midst of a burning fiery furnace heated seven times hotter than normal and i look again like nebuchadnezzar looked in and he peered in there in daniel 3 25 and he answered and said lo i see four men loose walking in the midst of

[20:16] the fire and they have no hurt and the form of the fourth is like the son of god that's prosperity isn't it that's prosperity i see ruth gleaning in the fields poverty stricken yet full of faith that's prosperity amen i see david a hunted man a man on the run hiding in a cave and in psalm 57 he cries out with these words be merciful unto me oh god be merciful unto me for my soul trusteth in thee yea in the shadow of thy wings will i make my refuge until these calamities be overpassed hunted on the run hiding in a cave forsaken rejected a vagabond a fugitive in the shadow of thy wings will i make my refuge that's prosperity amen that's prosperity i see stephen about to be brutally stoned to death in act 7 as someone's pictured in there i couldn't get an actual photo of stephen but uh ken there's a an artistic impression of stephen here just as he's about to be stoned to death and i see stephen about to be brutally stoned to death but he it says being full of the holy ghost looking up steadfastly into heaven it says he saw the glory of god and jesus standing on the right hand of god that's prosperity he's about to be stoned to death and he sees the glory of god he sees jesus and he sees jesus ready to welcome him that's prosperity people isn't it the spiritual man prospers because of the things he pursues the things of god it's not as the world would reckon or or define prosperity prosperity is a spiritual truth isn't it this man's going to have spiritual fruit the fruit of the spirit's going to grow in his life he's going to have the spiritual vitality a blessed life for god consider the alternative we've looked at the blessed man now of the alternative the contrast now with the ungodly of the ungodly it says the ungodly are not so they don't have any of that but it says the ungodly they're like the chaff like the chaff that the wind blows away like if you throw some sawdust in the air and the wind just blows it and scatters it here's chalk and cheese it says the ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind driveth the way here's a man is not like the other he's not planted he's not fruitful he doesn't know the savior he lives a rootless fruitless life he's barren he's got no river he's got no word he's got no leaf he's got no fruit he's dead dead dry useless spiritually dead he's just dead and dry as a piece of worthless grass chaff chaff is useless it's like the rubbish isn't it from the the winnowing process from the harvesting time it's just the grass the weeds the rubbish just the stuff you might put your chicken to roost in it's not going to grow it's not going to produce fruit it's like this emptiness this dried up piece of chaff that's the ungodly he's just blowing about in the wind and it says of the ungodly therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous here's a man he's on his way to a destiny to judgment time this man is racing on he's racing on towards judgment day racing towards this dread destiny to this bitter end on judgment day there's no acquittal for this man he's not going to stand he's just going to be crumbling falling to his knees over this man has written this word condemnation guilty condemnation he's condemned condemned damned guilty he's forever lost lost lost forever lost woe to this man he has

[24:25] not heeded the beckonings of mercy he stopped his ears to the word of salvation he's spurned the voice of grace over and over again and he's taken his own path he's rejected the savior and faces peril damnation woe to him he's abandoned all hope he has no one to stand up for him and plead his cause he has no space to repent he has no more time to change his mind he is forever forever in torment he has no blessed company he has no savior no blessed savior he has no salvation what loss what shame what tragedy this is the dread prospect for you sinner if you have no savior his word is against you that reject the beckonings of mercy your time is running out he speaks come unto me there is yet time but leave it and you'll have eternal regret therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment friends it's serious to think of where are we at do we know the savior it reads verse 6 for the lord knoweth the way of the righteous but the way of the ungodly shall perish the lord knows the lord knows in other words the lord approves of the way of the righteous the blessed man is known of the lord you know him and he knows you god knows you through and through he knows the way of the righteous it says god is watching over the righteous one this is a blessed way but there's a fork in the road here and there's still time if you're on the ungodly side if you're on the ungodly path you can change paths there is a blessed way it's trust in christ there's a blessed hope there's a blessed salvation there's hope there's blessing there's life eternal you must decide it's like a fork in the road like a junction you've got to choose christ and he says this is the way he says walking in it but some will stay on the christless way really you don't have to do anything to go to hell just do nothing now we've seen some folk jai and i yesterday door knocking and and people are saying well i'll just lift my the best way i know how and i'll i'll pull myself up on my shoe strings and and i'll uh i'll uh do unto others as i'd have them do unto me and there's one guys we challenged him and basically put well do you think it's like a scale and and the good works out by the bad oh hopefully it's not too close you know the the good works do outweigh the bad but it's not how it works it's not the good works that we do it's whether we know the good savior it's whether we know his good grace that saves the soul from sin it's not of works lest any should boast and friends the truth is he says this is the way walking in it trust christ today trust jesus as your savior it says for the wicked that they are wayward and unstable it says there's no substance no stability there's no root there's no strength there's no substance there's no life and the head and helter skelter to judgment day and time is running out judgment day looms men can forsake god but they cannot escape him they're like the chaff they're easily scattered by the wind and we think of chaff it's pretty much useless it's just thrown up in the air during the threshing and carried away by the wind and poof it's gone what a waste what a loss what vanity what hopelessness friends the ungodly are racing towards judgment and they face the very wrath of god and a dread damnation and i was there i was that man i was that man headed to damnation

[28:28]  and so are you think of what god has done to save your soul and if you've yet to trust him how easy it is simply to say yes lord i believe take my unworthy life and save my soul forgive my sin and make me whole and he can do that but for the meantime if you're outside of christ what a pitiful contrast won't you come unto the savior won't you dear saint be like a tree maybe you've not been so planted maybe it's time to put some roots down to get planted to get things moving the right way to be a tree so planted to live that fuller life for christ we've seen two men two destinies which of these two ways do you want to live it's about a decision that we make isn't it do you want to be blessed blessed in this life blessed forever to have forever life with jesus to know him to know his true joy and not a blessing that's about a happiness of our own making but a happiness that's soul deep it's heart deep all of us want to be blessed to be a blessed man the problem is that only a few of us want to be a godly man but really it's simply taking that step of faith and he'll do the rest he'll make you more like himself he'll make you more attuned to him maybe stop listening to the council council of the ungodly maybe stop walking in the way of the ungodly standing in the way sitting in the way of sinners you can be this kind of man blessed man blessed woman god can help you to become a psalm one believer let us pray lord we thank you that you are the savior of the soul lord we know that there's nothing good that we can bring simply our unworthy heart lord stained by sin we know we can only come and beckon unto you lord save me can only cry out as you pass by lord hear me and you will hey lord if there's any that you've touched their hearts today they want to get things right they want to do business with god pray if there's any here today that they see that they've been more like chaff than like a blessed man lord help us pray lord we know it's only by faith we can be saved but we'd love lord to be a more fruitful believer we'd love to bear some fruit such that our life has the fruit of the spirit such that we're fruitful in reaching others and seeing others one to you lord touch each heart pray that if there's any hearing this today and they they've been moved upon by you that they would say lord jesus thank you for dying on the cross for my sin i believe help me to believe more help me to be more like you help me to grow more to be stronger to be like that blessed one who follows you and knows you like a tree that's planted and fruitful lord help us to be more like that and help us lord to make right choices in all of our steps that we take such that we're following your steps in jesus name we pray