Chronicles of the End Times
Occasionally, people say, are we really in the last days? How do we know? Does it matter one way or another? We will try to answer these questions and many others in this study. But the most important question may be, how can we reach others with hope in these changing times? One part of prophecy is often emphasized over another, causing us to lose perspective and miss the blessing and beauty of prophecy in scripture. I have taken the information in this study from many authors and teachers who have their lives studying God's word. I have added some insight that the Holy Spirit taught me. With God's help, I have endeavored to keep the whole counsel of the word of God in full view to give us an accurate picture of Christ and His great love for a lost world. I pray that this will challenge you and cause you to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as it has me preparing it. Let's begin!
Chronicles of the End Times
Psalm 1 The Deep Roots of Faith
What separates the righteous from the unrighteous, and why does it matter in our spiritual journey? Drawing from the timeless wisdom of Psalm 1, this episode explores the profound gap between God's perfect holiness and our fallen human nature—revealing why Christ's sacrifice was absolutely necessary for our redemption.
We tackle a concerning theological trend sweeping through Christian circles today: the denial of sin and rejection of our need for salvation. By understanding God's pure, holy nature, we gain fresh appreciation for Jesus leaving heaven's glory to create the only possible bridge into divine presence. The imagery of Psalm 1 vividly illustrates this reality—contrasting those who delight in God's law (becoming like flourishing trees by streams of water) with the wicked who are mere chaff blown away by the wind.
Through personal testimony about my journey from pursuing music as my god to finding true purpose in Christ, I share how God transforms our gifts when we plant ourselves deeply in His Word. These spiritual roots sustain us through life's inevitable storms and enable us to bear fruit in every season. Even my recent high school Hall of Fame induction testifies to God's ability to use our lives in unexpected ways when we surrender to Him. Against the backdrop of escalating world turmoil—wars, antisemitism, and global conflict—our rootedness in Scripture becomes even more essential as signs of the end times multiply around us.
Whether you're walking through darkness or experiencing abundance right now, this message offers hope that God will use your unique circumstances to draw others to Himself. Your reward goes infinitely beyond anything this world offers—it is God Himself, with unlimited love, wisdom, and power. Subscribe now and join me next week for a special episode featuring three remarkable authors sharing their insights on faith amid these prophetic times.
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Speaker Names
Speaker 1
00:00
Welcome, everyone. This is Russ Scalzo from Chronicles of the End Times. Thank you for joining me today.
00:17
Today, we're going to look at Psalm 1, and we're going to talk about the difference between the righteous and the unrighteous. I think it's essential for us to concentrate on the grace of God and the mercy of God through the cross of Jesus Christ. You might say, well, it's something we all know. You know, we've heard that more times than we can count. But today, let's look at it from a different perspective. Why do we need the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from sin? Many movements are going on now. We've discussed them in past podcasts, where people say there is no sin. Therefore, there's no need for any type of redemption, and there is no price to be paid.
01:05
You get into those debates now and then, and we forget to consider the holiness of God. God is not like you and me. He is pure and holy; therefore, he cannot have sin. Unholiness, unrighteousness can't be in his presence. And I think when we concentrate on the purity of God, the holiness of God, then we can understand well, I can't be with God, I can't fellowship with him, I can't come into his presence the way I am. I need to be cleansed, I need to be changed, and therefore I need the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse me. It's his righteousness that makes us clean. They might seem very basic to you, but today there's a new movement. It is in many gatherings worldwide of people who call themselves Christians. Without the understanding of the holiness of God and the purity of God and us being alienated from him, we can't appreciate the suffering that Jesus Christ did and the decision the Father made to send him and Jesus' willingness to do so. I don't know about you, but thinking about it from Jesus' perspective, he's up in heaven. He's the Son of the Living God. He is one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The universe is his, everything that is seen and unseen, and everything he ever will create. He is the I Am, and to give all that up and come down here and be born as a baby and go through all the agony of just being human, then going on into ministry and being ridiculed and eventually crucified by the world he created is not something you could be looking forward to. Still, he did it because he was well aware that you and I could not get into heaven. He was well aware of all those in paradise who lived for God, who could still not enter heaven. He had to open the door so we could step into the presence of God.
03:15
Let's look at Psalm 1. Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by the streams of water that yields its fruit in its season and its leaf does not wither, and all that he does. He prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff that, the wind. That says it all very simply.
04:01
And the Bible says that all have fallen short of the glory of God. None of us make the cut, and that's why Jesus came. So, when we read this, we can read this from the perspective of that. We are saved now; we are sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ, and we are therefore the righteous in this psalm. Or we could look at it as we are all wicked and this psalm is explaining the holiness of God, explaining why God can't fellowship with unrighteousness, and we can appreciate it from either side. We can appreciate it as being on the other side now, where God has taken us, or we can look at it as we're all sinners, like the Bible says, and we all need to become righteous through the blood of Jesus Christ, because of what is going to happen to those who are wicked the way of the wicked will perish. All the great evangelists and workers for the kingdom of God throughout the centuries have had this in their heart, or else they would not have given up a better life on this earth and sacrificed to reach out to those around the world that need Jesus. If we could get to heaven another way, then the cross is foolishness. Why would god do such a thing? Who have that fire burning in them, that know these truths, very simple truths, that not everyone goes to heaven for the wicked have no place in the presence of God?
05:38
Now, before I was saved, I was among the wicked. I lived my own life. Those of you who have been listening to this podcast for a long time may have heard my testimony, which I'm not going to share right now. But just to say that my God was music, and I wanted a career in music, and I had the opportunity to have that. When I was in high school, I had a band called the Hallmarks and we got a record contract at Mercury Records. We went to the city many different times and recorded. It was debuted by Dick Clark on American Bandstand back in the day and we had a moderate amount of success and from that day on I was in music, trying up in an ambulance and God touched me and healed me and eventually, through other circumstances as well, came to Christ. So, we are all in the same boat. We've all come to Christ in different ways. God is the God of circumstances. He brings those things to pass because he wants to draw us close to him.
06:47
Psalm 1 also has some wisdom for us, some counsel for those of us who have come to Christ, who know him, who walk with him. It says in verse 2 that his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law, he meditates day and night. That is so important to our lives. That's always at the root of really all my podcasts that we need to know the Word of God. And the psalm goes on to say that he is like a tree planted by the streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.
07:25
We can save ourselves a lot of heartache by meditating on the Word of God. There's wisdom in it. God speaks through it because his word is alive. It cleans us. You remember that Jesus at the Last Supper said to his apostles you are clean by the words I have spoken over you. The word of God cleans us. It keeps us on the straight and narrow. It keeps us out of harm's way. If we listen to it Now, things still happen to us in this life. That's the way it is in this fallen world. But God uses those things to make in this life. That's the way it is in this fallen world. But God uses those things to make us better people. He uses those things to draw us closer to him. So, if we want to bear fruit in our season and have our roots go deep, a tree that has very deep roots been very difficult to blow over, and that's what the Lord is telling us Get your roots deep.
08:13
And as we study the prophecies of the last days, as we look to the world in turmoil, war on every side China and Taiwan, Russia, and the Ukraine. The Middle East is on fire. Right now, we see the country of Turkey turning its back, as it were, on NATO and focusing its hate on Israel. Anti-Semitism has reached new levels in these last few years. These are all signs of the end, but for today, let's just concentrate on our fellowship with Christ.
08:47
You want to bear fruit in your season. You want to have deep roots and when you have those deep roots, you're going to draw other people to yourself and to the Lord, because God will use you as a light and people will come to you. People will come to the light, and we don't have to be skipping down the road and smiling and praise the Lord every second of the day. That's not what God's saying and it's not practical, it's not attainable, but in our hearts it is. It's good for our hearts to be deep-rooted in Christ, deep-rooted in the Word of God, his promises, and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit. It will keep us even when the storm is raging around us where it could be we're being attacked, or our family, our friends, for this world can be a terrible place at times, but our deep roots, because of the Word of God, because of the watering of the Word of God, will keep us strong and others will come to us because of those deep roots, because we will bear fruit in our season. Whatever season of life you're going through right now, god is there, and he wants to use you. At this period of my life, I've lost some friends, and some are very sick. Right now, you might be going through the very same thing, but know this that this isn't all there is. The kingdom of God is real, and it is coming upon this entire earth.
10:08
Now on the subject of bearing fruit at different times and different seasons of your life, this past week, I had the privilege to be inducted into my high school's Hall of Fame. It was great to have my wife and my three daughters there, and my grandchildren, and, trust me, I was not the ideal student. I had my eyes fixed on other things, such as my music career. A quote that I can easily relate to is it's not so much how you start, but how you finish, and that's important for all of us, no matter what you've gone through, no matter what valleys you've been in, you keep trust in the Lord, because you will bear your fruit in season. God will use your life to draw others to himself. It's a privilege that is beyond anything we're worthy of.
10:57
I want you to know that my induction to the Hall of Fame wasn't because of my sports career or my phenomenal grades, but the things that I accomplished after I came to Christ. God gets all the glory. He gets all the glory for all the service that I was able to do, for the books that I've written, for this podcast, which I do, and for the plays and the songs that God allowed me to write for his glory. It all came after I met the true author of life, the one who gives the gifts, the one who enhances the gifts that he gives to us, because I planted myself by the rivers of water, by the word of God, and I allowed those roots to go deep even through troubled times. It all goes to the grace and the mercy of God. So, I encourage you today no matter where you are in your life, give yourself totally and completely to him every single day, and you will be blessed and, I will dare say, shocked at what he is able to accomplish through you. I'm thankful for all you who listen, all around the world, and we're praying for all of you, those of you who are in countries and in situations where your life is in danger because you are associated with Christ, for all of us that are living in the West, in more secure countries, countries where we don't have to worry about losing our lives every single day because of our faith in Jesus Christ. Let us not forget those who are in harm's way. I want to thank each one of you for supporting the show and helping us keep going. It is truly a privilege to serve the Lord. Next week, I will be doing a podcast with three other authors author Biff Price, author DI Hennessey and poet and author Doug Dial.
12:49
You keep trusting the Lord because you will bear your fruit in season. God will use your life to draw others to himself. It's a privilege that is beyond anything we're worthy of, because he has a reward for us that is beyond our imagination. As he said to Abraham, I am your great reward. And if our reward is God himself, the creator of the universe, unlimited resources, unlimited wealth, unlimited wisdom, unlimited love, unlimited power, on and on we could go. That's your reward. It's beyond anything this world can offer. This is Russ Scalzo for Chronicles of the End Times. Keep looking up. The King is coming.
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