Good morning. It's great to see
you here this morning, and I pray that God would be with us as
we go to the Word of God together and rejoice in our Savior. If you'll take your Bibles and
turn with me to Psalm chapter 1. Psalm chapter 1. And the title of the message is,
The Blessed Lord Jesus. The blessed Lord Jesus. The psalmist here says, blessed
is the man. This word blessed is a word that
we know as happy. Happy. To be fully content. To be fully happy. This word comes from a root that
means level. Level. Isn't that what happiness
is? For everything to be even. Level. No disruptions. No rocking the boat. Even. Happy. Happy is the man. Happy is the man, the joyful
man, the fully satisfied man. The framers of the Declaration
of Independence, we know that they wrote these words, that
every man has the right to life, liberty and the happiness of
the world. Is that what they wrote? No.
the pursuit of happiness. Why would they say that? Why
would they tell men they had the right to pursue happiness
instead of having happiness? Because no man has happiness. Friends, we by nature are not
happy people. We are just not. If you want
to see it, come live with me for about a month. And you'll
see an unhappy person. You'll see an uncontent person.
No, every man can pursue happiness or blessedness. The truth is,
no man has ever or could ever in this life obtain true contentment,
true happiness. You can pursue it all you want.
Go right ahead. You will not find happiness or
contentment in this world because of this fact. You and I are sinners. You and I are sinners. It's not only that we were born
with a clean slate and somehow we grew up in an environment
that made us sinners. No, we were sinners from the
womb, from the very moment of conception. We were in sin. The psalmist David said, in sin. Did my mother conceive me?" It's
not that she was sinning in the conception. We know that Jesse
and his wife were married, and that with a bed was undefiled. What did he mean by that? He
meant that he is a product of Adam's fallen race. Friends, there was only one virgin-born
man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one of us had a father.
And he had a father. And he had a father. And you
could trace that all the way back to the beginning with our
father, Adam. The Scripture says in Romans
chapter 5, it says, Wherefore, as by one man, Adam's sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, so death upon all men."
How do we know? For all have sinned. It came
forth from the womb, speaking lies. Who here has not told a lie? Raise your hand, I'm going to
call you a liar. You and I both know that's not
true, and usually our lies are to save our own self. When I
was a kid, I didn't want a sphincon. And I would do anything for self-preservation. I would lie, cheat, steal, do
whatever I needed to do. That's my story and I was sticking
to it. It didn't matter. I was trying
to save myself. You see, I have a sinful nature. And this nature lusts after the
things that please the flesh. And this is why we're not happy.
The natural man is never happy. You can give him the world and
he will not be happy. The flesh pursues happiness by
lusts and covetousness and desires. But this will not yield happiness. If you go over to Haggai, It's
right after Zephaniah, Haggai chapter 1. The Lord says this. He said, Consider your wage. Now, I like this because we usually are considering someone
else's wage, aren't we? How many times have we walked
out of a service and said, Oh, you know, so-and-so could have
used that message. Well, I'm not preaching to so-and-so. I'm
preaching to you. You. Individually, particularly to
you. I'm not thinking about anybody
else but you. Consider your ways, God says. Not anybody else's ways. Leave
them alone. Consider your ways. You have
sown much and bring in little. You eat, but it's not enough. You drink. But you're not filled
with drink, you're clothed, you, but there is none warm. He that earneth wages, earneth
wages to put it into a bag with holes. Consider your ways," said
the Lord of Hosts. Is that not so? Is that not so? The more we strive
for blessedness, the more we strive for contentment by outward
things, outward people or circumstances, the less we have. The more we have, the less we
have. The less content we are, the
more we get, the more we want. The more we want, the more jealous
we are of other people who have and we don't. This is our nature. This is who we are. We are uncontent
people. We are fleshly people. Consider the word of God. God says, consider your ways
and ponder and meditate your path and how it is that your
soul is never satisfied. Have you ever pondered that? God says to, well, now consider the Word of
God concerning the happy man. Because there is a happy man.
It says so. Blessed is the man. There is
a blessed man. There is someone who is happy.
There is someone who is blessed. And this man who is blessed is
none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only blessed
or happy man. Now, and that's one of the first
things I want us to consider, is he is the blessed man and
not us. This blessed man is not us. We're
not content. We've sinned against God. We've
walked according to our own counsel. And what has it gotten us? Nothing
but trouble. Nothing but trouble. Pain. Suffering. And we can blame anybody
we want to. We can blame our circumstances.
We can blame our friends. We can blame anybody. But truly,
if we were honest with ourselves, all of our trouble is our fault.
If we're getting into trouble for something we didn't do, well,
believe me, we deserve worse than what we're getting. None of us have sought after
God. The scripture says we are all
as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as menstrual
cloths. Now, is that not visually effective? That's your best stuff. That's
your best. If that's all you've got to God,
your righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. The truth is that men oppose
this absolute depravity of nature. Men follow after their own wicked
counsel and love darkness rather than light, and therefore the
natural man perceives that he possesses some good in him. The natural man thinks that he
has some remnant of the old Adam that was decent and godly. He thinks that there is some
spark of life left in him that he could do some good to earn
or merit God's favor and appease his conscience. Men by nature believe they have
some spiritual light so that they can obtain some sort of
happiness and contentment of conscience. But if you've ever
noticed this about religious folks, you'll notice that enough
is never enough. Have you noticed that? Have you
noticed how the traditions of men haven't lessened, they've
grown? Same way with the Pharisees. They weren't content with the
law of God. They weren't content with the
Word of God. So they began to add traditions to the Word of
God. And that's what men have done
all through the centuries. They say, well, we can't obey
that. So let's just make that standard a little lower. Let's
make it a little lower. Then we can be happy because
now we've made this standard here. After a while, they figured
out they've not even made that standard, so they lowered a little
more. They lowered a little more. And then pretty soon, it's all
the way down the bottom where everybody gets in. God loves
everybody. Jesus died for everybody. Blasphemy. And friends, this is why the
Pharisees hated Christ, and this is why the natural man hates
this message, because he thinks he still has some good. And God
says he has none at all. He has no good at all. Jesus
said, If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not sinned.
But now they have no cloak for their sin. And this is why they
hated the Father. and the Son, because they were
ungodly. And this is why you're unhappy,
because your nature is ungodly. Look at this in verse four. For
the ungodly are not so, but they're like a chap which the wind driveth
away. The ungodly are not like the
blessed man. The blessed man's rooted. The
blessed man doesn't go with wicked men. The blessed man is rooted
by rivers of water and is fruitful. The ungodly are nothing but chaff
that fly away in the wind. They go from one doctrine to
another doctrine, to another doctrine. They're never satisfied
with the doctrine of God. They're constantly trying to
find something new, something entertaining. Friends, a gospel
is not meant for your fleshly entertainment. It's meant for
the salvation of sinners. If you want to be entertained,
you need to go down the road, because I'm not here to entertain.
I'm not a very good entertainer. Friends, no one will ever be
able to find contentment or happiness in themselves, their works, their
religion, or anybody else. Stop trying to find joy in this
world. I love you all, but I have a special relationship
with my wife. And it has been my experience
that when I have made her my happiness, she has never pleased
me. Not once. And she never will. She's just as wicked and sinful
as I am. I can't be her happiness and
she can't be mine. I dare not rest on her happiness. cease from the vain pursuit of
earthly joys. They're fleeting. We have them. I know we do. And those are gifts
of God. Believe me, if there were no
grace of God to give us those things, we would be miserable
people all our lives. There are joys we have in this
life, but don't hang on to them. They're not valuable. They don't
last. Because they'll always be the
next thing. Teenagers, I love that. They're
always a wonderful example. They're always looking for that
one person, that one mate, that one person. Oh my, if I could
just have this one person, then I will be complete. And then when they get that person,
they say, well, he ain't exactly what I thought he would be. And
so they begin another search. Oh, if I could just have this
one, I will be finished and everything will be pleasant. And then you actually marry one,
and then you are stuck. So you better be very careful
who you marry. And you better not put your happiness
on that person because they're nothing but a sinner like you
and they will fail you every time. But let me tell you of
one who won't. Let me tell you of a man who
is blessed, a man who is happy. A man who has always been happy,
a man who will always be content and happy, and that is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the blessed man. He's it. He's the only blessed man. Jesus
is the only happy man because he is God. Do you realize before anything? When God dwelt alone in eternity
by Himself, in the Trinity of His person, God the Father, God
the Son, God the Holy Spirit, they dwelt together in eternity
past, if I can even say that, by themselves, without anyone,
and yet they were perfectly happy in themselves. The Psalm, the
Proverbs in Proverbs chapter 8, the Lord Jesus Christ being
wisdom, personified speech. And he said, I was daily his
delight, daily the delight of God. Jesus Christ was forever happy. And his delight, the delight
of the Savior was in his elect. Friends, there never was a time
from all eternity the Son of God was not perfectly happy.
Because God is perfect in every way, holy in all His attributes. If you were perfect, wouldn't
you be happy? God's perfect. And all God does
is perfect. Everything God does, without
exception, is perfect. All that the Father decreed from
eternity was perfect, especially this matter of salvation, this
matter of saving those ungodly sinners, this matter of His election
and salvation of His people. And there will never be a time
that God is going to be discouraged about this matter of salvation,
never. The God of this world is unhappy.
The God of this world is unhappy. He's in heaven and he's wringing
his hands and just hoping that man will choose him. The God of this world is so anxious. He sent his son and poor Jesus,
he died for everybody and he just don't know who he died for. But he's trying, God's trying
to save somebody. What a crock. That is not God
at all. Do you suppose that God is content
that wills to save men, but can't save men? No. Because that God is not perfect,
that God does not exist. The God of the scriptures says,
I will do all my pleasure. All my pleasure. Our God is in the
heavens. and hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased." God of heaven is happy. He always does his pleasure,
and his decrees will not fail. His decrees will not fail. And this was the pleasure and
decree of God that Jesus Christ should come and be the only blessed
man. This is what God was content
with. This is what God was decreed
from God before the foundation of the world. That Christ should
come and be a man. A man. And not only just any
man, but the blessed man. And we know He was blessed because
He was not born of the same seed we were. He was born of Adam.
He was not born of Adam. He was born of the virgin womb. This is vitally important because
He was not born of the seed of man. Therefore, He did not inherit
the sinful nature of man. Jesus Christ was prepared a body
of the Holy Spirit. And when He was born, He was
born sinless. He was born without sin. And therefore, he was content.
He was happy. Jesus was made flesh, bone of
our bone and flesh of our flesh. And he was in every way, as a
man like us, except sin. There was no difference. He was
tired. He hurt. He felt pain. He felt suffering. But friends,
in all of his misery there was never once he was unhappy. Notice the progression of sinners. 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.
Notice this progression of the wicked is to walk, to stand,
and to sit. My friend, Jesus Christ never
walked with the ungodly. He walked by faith. By faith. Jesus Christ never stood with
sinners. In other words, He never compromised. He never compromised the Word
of God. And he never sat in the seat
of the scornful. But his delight was in the law
of the Lord. And he meditated in that law
day and night. He did righteously. Christ was not like us because
he never walked in evil. He never sinned. He always had
faith in God. And he always spoke the Word
of God in truth. Nor did Christ sit in the seat
of the scornful of ungodly men. Jesus said, I am not coming to
condemn the world. Why? The world is already condemned.
But Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. How
sweet is the Lord Jesus Christ, and how blessed is He that sought
not the righteous, but sinners. And this was his joy to do. I love you, and I would do as
much as I can for you. But I know this, even when I
do things for you, my flesh still rises up. It still is unhappy
that I have to do these things. He did it so sweetly and with
great joy. Jesus Christ, He was the opposite
of self-righteous. He sought only the righteousness
that comes from God. Christ simply was content to
speak the Word of God and to believe it. and to get his strength and counsel
from God alone. Remember when he was tempted
of Satan? He wouldn't even eat bread. He wouldn't even make
the stones bread to feed his flesh unless God gave it to him. Have we ever been so content
to wait? I tell you, I'm hungry now. I'm hungry now. I'm not content
with what I had. And usually, I'm not sitting
there waiting for God to give me the bread. I'm rushing to
get it myself. My nature is wicked. It's incontent. But Christ was
always content. Verse 2, But His delight is in
the law of the Lord, and in that law doth He meditate day and
night. Jesus said, I came to do Thy will, O God. And what
was the will of the Father? He said, This is the will of
him that sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should
lose nothing, but raise him up at the last day. If Christ is the blessed and
happy man, then why was he called the man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief? Well, because he suffered more
than any man. He suffered. But even in his
suffering, he rejoiced. The Scripture says he despised
the shame, yet but for the joy that was set before him, he endured
the sufferings. He endured the cross. He suffered more than any man.
Are you happy when you suffer? He was. Our Lord Jesus Christ was content
to suffer. Nevertheless, not my will, Father,
but thy will be done." How that rolls off our tongue at times
when we don't mean it. He meant it. He's the blessed
man. And number three, the Lord Jesus
Christ is the blessed man because he is the tree of life. Look at verse three. And he shall
be like the 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." Can you say that of
yourself? Are you like a tree planted,
or have you been moved? Have you been shaken? Robert Hawker says this, and
I wrote it down because I thought it was really good. Had we no other clue to lead
us to the discovery of the Lord Jesus Christ as set before us
in this psalm, then what is said of Him, even this would plainly
unfold it. For who but Jesus is the tree
of life? Who flourishes but Him? Who flourishes
but Him? Yes, blessed Redeemer, thy people
are planted in thee. made branches in thee, will thrive
in thee, will bring forth fruit in thee, and by thee, and from
thee, and thy people live and derive their life, and nourishment,
and moisture, and fruitfulness in due season. Yet it is because
thou art the self-existing life-imparting tree in the midst of the garden
of Jehovah. and being the same yesterday,
today, and forever, thou art liable in no fading nor failing,
but thou art always blooming both in blossom and in fruit
toward thy people." Because of the delight of the Lord Jesus
Christ, which was the glory of God, he was planted as the tree
of life. Friends, Jesus Christ is a blessed man because he was
happy with his own work. His work of salvation he accomplished. Accomplished. Finished. When you have a tree and it's
planted, It takes root deep into the water
and it brings out fruit. It's been there forever. How long has the tree of life
been there? Since the creation, the Lord created the tree of
life. It was meant to picture Christ, who is the tree of life.
Who's going to uproot him? Who's going to move him? He's
the same yesterday, today and forever. Will you change him?
Will you make him unhappy? No, he's not going to be unhappy
because he saved his people from their sins. His work is done.
The work of salvation is finished. This is the gospel message. There
is no other gospel message. Jesus Christ said it is finished. The work is done. He is like that tree planted.
by the rivers of water. And friends, he that died for
his people will call his people from the dead." He will. Everyone God chose,
Christ saved and will call by His Spirit. Who is that? I don't know. I don't know who
it is. I know it's me. I don't know
about anybody else. I know he called me. He called
me by the preaching of his gospel and I heard his voice and he
created in me a new nature. Remember Lazarus when he was
dead? Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. Do you suppose Lazarus debated
whether to come forward? Do you suppose he sat up in the
tomb and said, well, let me see? I don't know, Lord, if I'm going
to make my decision to live or not. How foolish. No, he could do
nothing but come forth. And he did. And Jesus said that
everyone who heareth the voice of the Son of God shall live,
shall live, definitely live, without exception, who hear the
voice of the Son of God. What will hinder his joy? What
will stop him from saving his people? You believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ? Do you trust alone in Him as
all your hope and salvation? It wasn't you that saved you.
It wasn't because of you He saved you. And friends, it won't be
because of us. He keeps us. He says, I do this
for my own namesake. Praise God He did it for His
sake. I'm so thankful he did it for his own namesake, because
he's always going to be happy, and he's always going to get
what he wants. Now, why he would want me is
a mystery of grace. There was no difference between
me and anyone else. And believer, we who are believers
in Christ, we may be happy. Do you desire happiness? Then you must find it in Christ. You must find your joy, peace,
and contentment in Christ alone. I'm not content in myself. But I know this, my joy rests
in Christ. Having not seen in whom, though
you see him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls. If you desire lasting happiness,
it is by faith in Christ alone. What is the antidote? What is
the remedy for discontentment? The Blessed Man. The Blessed
Man. Waiting on Him. Keeping your eye on Him. Fixing your affections on Him. And in Him you may have fullness
of joy. Because He is the fullness of
joy. And nobody else. Nothing else. There is no next step. There
is no better thing. Jesus Christ is all. And in Him is fullness. Fullness
of joy. I'm not talking about a creed
that you read in some book. I'm talking about a person. A
man who sits on the throne of heaven and rules all things. And friends, he will never be
discouraged. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? The Scripture says that he shall not be discouraged.
Isaiah chapter 42, I believe it is. Isaiah 53 says that he shall
see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. Is God satisfied? You bet he
is. Is he satisfied with me? If I'm in Christ, he's satisfied
with me, and I should be happy. Shouldn't that make you happy? I pray that God would give you
the grace. Give me the grace to see Christ by faith. Grab
on to Him and don't let go. Rest on His love and you will
be happy. I pray that God would bless us
to your hearts. Have the men come forward and
we'll partake of the Lord's supper together.