Beyond Sunday
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the Podcast that takes you deeper into the Word of God throughout your week, with your Host Pastor Lee Day.
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Beyond Sunday
The Righteous and the Wicked
In this episode of BEYOND SUNDAY Pastor Lee breaks down his favorite Psalm. The Psalmist writes about two paths; the righteous and the wicked and explains what happens to them. Get your Bible ready, listen, enjoy, grow and share the link with someone.
Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Be On Sunday. I am your host, Pastor Lee Day, and I pastor Christ Family Outreach Church located here in the one and the only Amelia, Virginia. Today we're going to journey together through maybe, just maybe, one of my most favorite psalms in the collection of Psalms in all of Scripture. And it is the very first Psalm. That's right, Psalm number one. It speaks to me. It truly does. It gives the way of the righteous, and then it gives the way of the wicked. And it's as if the psalmist is saying, this is how to live a righteous life. And this way over here, this is the way of the wicked. So now all that's left to do is simply choose one. Now, we live in a world where choices are everywhere. We can choose so many different things or so many different types of things to choose from. And but when it comes down to godly living, it's it's simple. We're either going to choose to live righteous or we're going to choose to live in the world. It's really simple. It's just two choices. I think you would agree with me, or at least I hope you would. Now, I think each of you listening out there would very quickly choose to live the righteous life, right? Rather than the wicked. But the greater decision, the more difficult decision, my friends, it goes beyond just choosing to live the righteous life, but actually living out the righteous life. And let's be honest, that could be extremely difficult to do at times. And let me remind every one of you listening that it can only be done. It can only be done through accepting Jesus Christ in our lives and relying on the working power of God's Holy Spirit living on the inside of us. Amen. So let's jump right into it. We're not going to delay any longer. If you've got your Bibles, open them, if you've not already, to Psalm 1. And we're going to be reading together verses 1 through 6. So here we go. This is what the text says. 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 streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. All right. If I told you God was going to show up at your local supermarket, just hear me out on this. Hear me out on this. If I told you that God was going to show up at your local supermarket this weekend and he was going to be handing out blessings, I think if we're honest with one another, we're all not just going to show up. We're going to show up early. And we're going to get in line to receive whatever blessing God is going to be handing out that day. And I use that analogy because, in a way, that's what's happening right here in the text. No, the text is not telling you that God is going to show up and hand out blessings at the supermarket. I get it. Although if he wanted to, he totally could, and he's more than capable to do so. But this particular passage is telling you how to be blessed. And that is what is so attractive about it to me. Because the text is saying, if you want to be blessed in life, do this. And so it is definitely worthy of some further study together. Wouldn't you agree? You see, verse one opens up and says, 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. And I want to make this very clear. This text is not saying that you cannot go be around non-believers and live life. This text is not saying that you cannot go out into a dark world and witness in front of them or at your job. Remember, Matthew 5, 13 through 16, Jesus tells us that we're to be salt and light to the earth as Christians. In Matthew 5 in the 16th verse, it tells us to let our light shine before others. And so we're called to live out our witness. We're called to live out our testimony in this very dark world in order that they too may have hope, as someone once showed hope to us and once explained to us our need for salvation through Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. So what is the first verse saying then? We are called to witness to the lost. But listen to this. We're called to witness, but we cannot be fellow partakers with them in their folly. If you're taking notes, I want you to jot this down. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17 says this. We are now new creatures in Christ as followers of Jesus. And as a new creature in Jesus Christ, we cannot be acting like the old creature anymore. As new creatures, we cannot act like the old creature any longer. As Christians, we should have new desires. We should have new pleasures. The second verse says that the blessed man, his delight is in the law of the Lord. Amen. That is so, so good. The blessed man, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. So I got a little inventory question for you today. And just think about this. Ponder on this throughout your day. Is God's word planted deep inside of you? Is God's word planted deep inside of you? Have you put it inside of you, giving the Holy Spirit something to work with, my friends? Is God's word a delight to you? Or does it feel like timeout? You know, having to slow down, having to take time to sit down and read it. You may be thinking, I don't have time to slow down. I don't have time to sit down, to be quiet in my day and read the word of God. But but that's exactly what God is trying to do. God is trying to slow you down enough that you can begin to hear from him again. And sometimes life can get so busy, I get it. But sometimes it can get so busy that if we're not careful, we can get away from the one thing that gives us strength. Not only are we supposed to have God's word inside of us, but we should delight in that. That we should also meditate on it day and night, as this Psalm calls us to do. Amen. That what we read in the morning, we should think about throughout our day. And doing so keeps us in the right mindset. And it allows the Holy Spirit room to minister in our lives. And it allows God to use that word that we plant inside of us. It allows God to use it throughout our day so that it not just blesses us, but that we could be a blessing to others as well. Now let's move on to the third verse because the third verse says, Blessed is the man like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and the leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Wow. Did you hear that, my friends? Blessed is the man. Verse three, blessed is the man. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season. And the leaf does not wither, in all that he does, he prospers. See, if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down. Three words. Here it goes. Fruit yielding season. Fruit yielding season. Let's talk about that. Because in Matthew chapter 9, verse 37, Jesus says this. He says, The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. The harvest is ready, my friends. And the truth is, is that according to the text, Jesus lets us know that God is looking for people that are willing to be used by him for his glory. It's not that the harvest isn't ready. It's not that the harvest isn't right for picking. Jesus says, no, no, the harvest is plentiful. It's ready. So notice the text in Psalm 1, verse 3. It also says that the blessed, their leaf does not wither, and all that he does prospers. Whoa. I want that kind of life. That's the life that I want to live every moment of every day. That God gives us the strength to do everything that he calls us to do. The harvest is ready, the laborer is ready, and the leaf does not wither, and all that we do prospers. Now there's a lot packed into the first three verses of Psalm 1, but then there's a very quick shift. There's a hard line that the psalmist draws in the sand and he turns on it really fast. I mean, it's he's going one direction and then boom, he turns and he goes another direction. So he goes from talking about the righteous to now addressing the life of the wicked. He comes upon this intersection here. He says that the wicked do not have the victory that the righteous have, and that they are like chaff that the wind drives away. Now, I looked up the definition of chaff, and this is what it says. It says, chaff is the seed coverings and other debris that are separated from the seed in threshing grain. It then says this in the definition that chaff is something comparatively worthless. So in this example in scripture, the righteous person would be considered the seed, the good thing, the thing of value. While the person living in wickedness would be the chaff, something that brings no more value at all. Now, if you're listening and you feel worthless and you say, well, man, maybe I'm that chaff. You know, I just don't feel like I have much purpose, Pastor Lee. Can I just take a moment and tell you that Jesus Christ died for you and that God loves you so much that he is willing to accept you into his family right now, right where you are, and forgive you if you would just cry out to Jesus and ask Jesus right now in this moment to come into your life, to forgive you of your sins, and he will come in and save your soul. Just ask him. Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sin. I recognize, Lord, that you died on the cross, and I'm asking you to come into my life and save my soul in Jesus' name. Amen. And my friend, he will. It's what he does, it's what he loves to do. It's it's what he came to do, it's what he died for, it's what he defeated death for, it's what he's coming back for, is the church, those that are in Christ Jesus. Now, let's let's move on. We're we're continuing forward in the first Psalm and the fifth verse. The fifth verse says that the wicked, the wicked are not going to stand in judgment. My friends, it is not going to be good times for those who are judged and do not have Jesus Christ advocating for them on their behalf. Advocating for them. It says that Jesus Christ, this is what it lets us know. The text lets us know that Jesus Christ is our advocate and he speaks to God on our behalf as Christians. Oh, what a tremendous gift. I mentioned, I mentioned kind of this topic in church just a couple of weeks ago. Have you ever considered that your name is in the mouth of your Lord? What a tremendous blessing. I don't know about you, but that that's humbling. It's very humbling to me. That my Lord is advocating, and this isn't just at a day of judgment. This isn't just at the day of the rapture. No, when you read 1 John chapter 2, 1 and 2, and 1 Timothy chapter 2, verse 5, this is happening right now. This is a today verse. This is this is taking place right now. That your Lord and Savior, if you claim Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior and you are walking with God, you are living a life worthy of that call. You are a child of God. Your name is in the mouth of God. He is advocating on your behalf. He is speaking up for you. Oh my goodness, that's that is just that is just so amazing. The sixth verse says that the wicked, see, this is what's going to happen to them. The unsaved, those that are living ungodly, those that are in the world. They are just choosing to please flesh. They're choosing to keep self, number one, in their life, in their mind, in their heart. They want nothing to do with God. They're not God followers. Let's talk about them for a moment. Because the sixth verse lets us know what's going to happen to those types of people. And it's very sad because it doesn't have to be this way. If you're not serving Christ, you can come to Christ today. But the sixth verse says, the wicked are all going to perish. And can I just say, friends, that hell is not going to be a party? The Bible teaches us that it is a place of torment. It is a place of torment. And it is not going to be a party. So the sixth verse says the wicked are all going to perish. But here's the good news. Here is the good news. John 3 16 tells us that God so loved you and me. For all of us. That if if we would believe in him, we would not perish, but have everlasting life. Even Satan believes that Jesus is real. I mean, after all, we see in the text very early on in the New Testament where Satan tempts Jesus to follow him rather than following after the heart of God and doing the will of God. So we've got to be very clear here. Just believing is not enough. Just raising your hand and coming forward, just asking Jesus to save your soul is not enough. We cannot use it as a pass to get saved from destruction. We cannot use it as a pass to get saved from hell, but then not go live a life that God calls us to live. When we get saved, Jesus Christ says that we are born again. And when we are born again, it's a brand new lifestyle that we've never walked prior to having Jesus Christ in our lives. And when we get saved, the text teaches that the Holy Spirit enters into us. The word of God lets us know that our body is a living temple of the Holy Spirit of God that's living on the inside of us. So our life, as we get saved and we're born again, our life should begin to look different. We have been saved and born again. Amen, my friends. And so as we are called into this ministry to walk with God, as we're called into this ministry to serve Jesus, our lives have to change and we have to begin to look more like our Heavenly Father. And my friends, that's really what Psalm chapter 1 is all about. It's about choice. It's not about God imposing himself on people, it's just a choice. So this is the way of the righteous, this is the way of the wicked. You get to choose. And I'm gonna tell you, I'm gonna tell you that choosing to walk the way God calls you to walk, there is nothing more satisfying than that. Let's pray. Father, I thank you so much for your people. And I thank you, God, for anyone that may be listening today that is not yet a child of God. Because I'm glad they're listening. I pray that this episode would give them something to consider, truly something to think about. I pray that they find themselves at an intersection today. Just like the psalmist is speaking of. Here's the way of the righteous, then there's an intersection. Here's the way of the wicked. Which one will you choose? And Father, I pray that they choose wisely. Lord, I pray for your children that have already claimed you as Lord and Savior. And Father God, I pray that you would strengthen them, that you would continue to bless and anoint and favor them, that their cups would continue to fill up and run over. And Father, that you would use them as a witness, as a true witness, an ambassador, that they would represent you and bring lost souls to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and continue to lead people to the kingdom of God. And I ask all this in the mighty name and the blood of Jesus Christ and all God's children said, My friends, Amen, amen, and amen.
